One Frayed Hat
by timelordsdaleksandsherlockohmy
Summary: Yes, this is an EnglehornOC. Yes I understand you have reason to be skeptical about reading it. And yes the sky isn't exactly blue, but give me a chance. It's not everyday you get to see someone being called monkey brains, right? Right so R&R appreciated.
1. Prologue

Thomas Englehorn watched the horizon, as his friend Andrew's ship became a tiny pinprick in the distance, then disappeared. This would be Thomas' first year aboard a ship as cabin boy. Thomas' parents disapproved but had eventually relented when he had reminded them he was nineteen and ready to leave home. He had also promised to visit more than once a year. He trembled with the excitement of anticipation.

A high screech suddenly interrupted his thoughts as a flying bullet of a girl flew past him. She was being chased by a boy her size. They both had smiles on their chubby little faces. The girl had seen Thomas though and ran faster than boy to circle around and hide behind the barrels where he was. She stopped and raise a small finger to her lips. The little boy rushed by again, calling her name. His voice trailed off in the distance.

"Jo, that was mean of you." Thomas admonished his five year old friend in his native language.

She gave him an irresistible, mischevious smile. He was already more than twice her size, but her smile was twice as powerful. He lifted her up with a groan, making her laugh a tinkling laugh. She grew serious suddenly.

"Thomas," she said, pronouncing his name differently than it was supposed to be. She spoke to him in English, though it was not his native language. "Mama says you are leaving today on a ship to go see the ocean and maybe even China!" The girls eyes grew wide and excited as she played with the fringe on his hat.

"That I am," he replied also in English, his accent evident. "Maybe even Russia." He told her.

"When will you be back?" She asked sadly. "Tomorrow?" Her eyes grew hopeful.

Thomas smiled sadly at her. "Probably not for a year."

The girls eyes grew wide again. "A whole year, Thomas?"

"Yes, Jo. But you will wait for me, will you not?"

"Yes, yes, Thomas." She said in a grown-up manner.

Thomas laughed at her, but she did not mind. He studied her slowly, wishing to memorize the things that reminded him of home to think about on his journey. The girl's bright green eyes alone made her unique, but her physical uniqueness did not stop there. She had a medium toned skin that shocked most woman since everyone in Europe, especially dreary England, were proud of the palest skin. Jo got teased for it by the other girls, but it did not bother her. Her hair was a rich, dark shade of brown and thicker than average. Thomas had taken to her quickly from the first day her mother had arrived with her from the East two years ago. The small family of two had arrived from Eastern Europe, though he was not sure if that was where they'd originated.

Thomas had taken to Jo so quickly because she had been an outcast and still was in many circles. Her friendly, easygoing manner and kindness made her many friends quickly though, including Thomas. He adored the girl and was angry every time she mentioned the father who had left her and her mother in poverty, though the girl spoke of the good qualities of the man. Thomas touched the girl's eyelashes once more. They were lovely, long, thick lashes. She blinked and giggled.

"What are you looking at, monkey brains?" She asked him, switching to his native tongue of German, which he had taught her over a matter of months. That was another thing about the girl. She learned quickly.

"The most beautiful girl in the world." Thomas said proudly with a smile.

The girl smacked him softly with a laugh. "You know you're supposed to call me a boy, Thomas, not a girl." Then she smiled a bright smile, so wide it scared him sometimes. "I'm going to marry you one day, Thomas."

"Is that right?" He asked amusedly.

She nodded ferociously.

"Well you'll have to be a girl then, won't you?" He asked.

She thought about it. "I guess so."

"And what about Andrew, your little friend? Doesn't he want to marry you first?" He asked her with a serious face.

She frowned. "Yes, but he doesn't have a hat like yours." She said, touching the frayed edge of his hat again.

"You want to marry me because of the hat?" He asked.

She nodded, serious. He took the hat off his head and placed it on hers. "Well you may have it until I return. Then you can give it to me, and we'll see if you still want to marry me, yes?" He asked her with a smile. She nodded happily.

"I do want to marry you, and I won't change my mind."

He smiled mischievously. "So, you'll wait for me, beautiful one?"

She smiled shyly with a nod.

"Promise?" He teased.

"Promise." She wrapped her pinky around his own.

"And you'll come back for me?" She asked outright.

He was surprised for a second but nodded.

"Promise?" She asked in all seriousness.

He swallowed, but spoke. "Promise."


	2. Aboard the Venture

Sixteen Years Later 

Jo Williams had thrown a temper tantrum. She had screamed and hollered at her mother and her mother's husband. She had thrown her dresser to the floor before picking it up and placing it in front of the door to keep everyone out. She had refused to eat. She had tried and failed to run away five times. It didn't matter what she did. No matter how much of a child she acted like, they refused to let up. She was to marry Marcus Major. She was to travel to America. On a ship. With Marcus. The long way. From London. To Spain. To Africa. To God knows where else.

Just thinking about it made Jo thrown her arms up in frustration. She couldn't believe she had to marry that arrogant, brainless git. Her parents were supposed to join her in New York in six months for the wedding. The wedding. It made her blood boil to even think that word. She didn't want to get married. She never wanted to get married. At least never to Marcus. His vainess made her retch. Yet, there she was standing with a maid-in-waiting ready to board a crappy, cargo ship that would take her around the world with the person she loathed most. Not the maid, of course.

She could feel slime oozing from his arrogant grin, as she watched him standing talking to the crew as if he knew what he was talking about. He had assured her a trillion times that he could afford a much better ship than the Venture, but it was the only one going their way for the next few months. Plus, he had said, he didn't mind a bit of adventure. Jo snorted in disgust. She couldn't believe she was just standing here, standing for this unfairness.

Her mother came up from behind her suddenly. "Come, Darling. You can board now and get settled in."

Jo ignored her mother, as she was not talking to her at all at the moment. She picked up one of her bags and walked to the ramp. She hurried to lose her mother who was still close behind anyway. She had memorized what room she was in, and the ship was small. It would not take her long to find it. Twenty minutes later, she stood in an empty hallway, her mother and maid beside her with no clue as to how to find her state room. If you could call it that. She had peered into one of the bedrooms, only to be disgusted by it's smallness. A young man was passing by an opposite hallway. She flagged him down.

"How in the world am I supposed to know which room is mine?" She asked him.

"You're one of the married couple?" He asked shortly, though not rudely.

She gritted her teeth. "I'm not married. But my..." She gritted her teeth harder at the next word. "My fiance is Marcus Major. I'm Jo Williams."

The boy smiled pleasantly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jimmy." He shook her hand quickly. "Let me show you to your room."

She followed, and he led her back down from where she'd come to a room bigger than most of the others she'd seen. There was a queen sized bed to the side and a twin sized bed on the other for the maid. "Thanks Jimmy." Jo said flirtatiously as he departed.

"No problem, future Mrs. Major," Jimmy replied with a wink.

Jo couldn't help but laugh, as she caught her mother staring at her disaprovingly. "What?" She asked, though she knew what she'd done.

"Look, Jo, I don't want you to be mad at me anymore. This'll turn out for the best." Her mother told her.

"I don't want to hear it anymore. Ok, ma?"

"It's mother, and we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about." Jo interrupted her mother. "Look, I don't want to be any madder at you when we say bye, so let's just do it now." She hugged her mother tightly. "I love you, Ma."

Her mother hugged her back for longer than she would have wished than took her own departure. "Be safe, my love. You'll understand one day. I'll see you soon."

Jo threw herself onto the bed with a sigh. "Thank God that's over."

Her maid, Ariana, watched her cautiously. "You're not planning on running again, are you? Because you know they'll catch you." Ariana warned.

"Of course I'm not going to run away." Jo replied exasperatedly. "At least not here." This time she spoke mischeviously. "I figure I'll get a chance in Africa. Maybe even Spain. The sooner the better."

"You're not serious." Ariana hoped.

"Don't worry about it." Jo said slyly, which was of course something to worry about.

This was definitely going to be one hell of a trip, they both thought. Neither knew how right they were.

Marcus did not call on Jo until after the ship had set sail, to her relief. He wanted to watch the sunset with her on the deck. (Not right now, she'd told him.) She wondered if he was just stupid or completely oblivious to her complete and utter dislike of him. Or both.

"C'mon sweetums. You've got to come watch it with me," he told her. "It's just beautiful." He grinned at her wide, as if his smile would be enough to convince her.

She gave him a sickeningly sweet, fake smile that turned upside down almost immediately. "Uh. No." She said.

He frowned, then pouted. "C'mon baby." He begged.

"Godmanit, Marcus!" She slammed her hand down on her book. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

He was there next to the bed the next second, pulling her by her elbow. "I love it when you get mad, darling." He told her. "Now come on."

She jerked his elbow out of his grip. "I said no."

After a few more minutes of his begging, she could take it no longer. "Fine! If it'll keep you off my back for five seconds!" She threw her long, black coat over her white dress she'd been forced to wear by her mother and followed her fiance out the door. Once they got out on deck, he kept trying to take her arm, but she kept eluding him subtly. The ship would jerk almost violently every once in awhile, and Jo would stumble, but she would never stoop as low as to grab onto Marcus for support, though he kept trying to catch her. She giggled at the thought of him pushing her just so he could hold her.

Her watched her self-conciously as she laughed. The young man, Jimmy, from earlier passed by with a small smile. He tipped his hat at them. "Afternoon, Jo." He said casually. "Mr. Williams." He said with a mischevious smile, making Jo burst into laugter as he disappeared around the corner.

Marcus frowned. "That was odd. Someone ought to let the crew know that you're the one marrying me." He joined into Jo's laughter, something that made her stop her own immediately.

They strolled around the semi-clean deck for a few minutes in silence, stopping at the rear of the ship to lean on the railing and watch the sun as it lowered slowly as it could. Jo got restless after a while and wandered off without telling Marcus, who was immersed in the sunset with tears in his eyes. She would let him wonder for an hour or two or three, maybe four before she joined him for dinner. She crossed her arms behind her back as she slowly walked, inspecting the ship, sometimes stumbling to keep her balance.

She actually didn't mind that the ship was more than dirty. It was more comfortable that way, and there didn't seem to be any other women aboard, which was also a comfort in a way because she felt she didn't have to act prim and proper. She heard many male voices talking and approached a brightly lit room which held a large, wooden table in the middle. Around the table there was a huge group of men talking and, to her surprise, a woman. She stood in the doorway until one of the men, standing, noticed her.

"'Ello there, beautiful!" He said with a wide smile. One of his eyes seemed to be glued shut, and he had a roughness, but she found him to be absolutely sweet. "What are you doing out there? Come in and join us. We need another pretty lady." He said, winking at the blonde sitting in between two men, one plump, one tall and skinny. She blushed but smiled at Jo, who smiled back, wondering if she would have to watch her manners around this particular one, but she didn't think so. "I'm Lumpy," the same man continued, approaching her.

She walked forwards. "Jo. It's nice to meet you." She shook his hand and laughed when he tried to hug her. "Oh, alright." She said, hugging him tightly. She had a way of judging people she'd just met. Immediately she deemed them worthy or she didn't. Her opinion never changed because it didn't have to. And she'd deemed Lumpy and probably everyone else in the room worthy.

"Hey Jimmy." She waved at the boy who waved back with a smile.

"Let me introduce you to the crew and other passengers. Seeing as you already met Jimmy, the ol' swine, this be Choy, me most loyal mate." He said, gesturing to a tiny Asian man, who bowed to her in his seat with a wide, bright smile she'd bet never disappeared from his face. "This be David Unger, Luis Delaney, and Pom, all on the crew." Three sooty looking men waved and smiled at her shyly. "Andrew and Miller." Lumpy pointed out two more of the crew. "And this be our other passengers. On our way to Singapore," he blurted.

Jo's brow furrowed, but she said nothing. "I'm Preston," spoke up a man, dressed considerably better than the crew. He grinned up at her shyly with a wave. "This is Carl." He said with a gesture to the porky man on his left.

"I'm Ann." The woman said almost shyly, and Jo decided right there to like her.

"I'm Jack," the tall, skinny man said with a wave, looking almost unsure of himself.

Jo greeted them all warmly as Lumpy sat her down at the table. The last person who'd been unintroduced stood up suddenly and reached across the table to shake her hand. "I'm Bruce." He said as arrogantly as Marcus had when they'd been introduced. She smiled, gritting her teeth, not ready for another Marcus, as she stared at her flirtatiously.

Jimmy let out a snort. "Forget it. She's married."

Jo smiled at Jimmy. "Engaged." She said, uncomfortably, the word still feeling foreign in her mouth.

Jimmy just winked at her again, though his cheeks reddened slightly.

"Just making conversation, kid. Not that you'd know what that is." Bruce retorted.

"Calm down now, people. No need to fight over the lady." Lumpy gave her another wink.

Jo was pleased, as she'd never been winked at so much by people she actually liked.


	3. No Trespassing

**Sorry the chapter's so short! I promise more very soon! Thank you to all who reviewed! I hope you all enjoy!**

Marcus walked in when everyone had started on dinner. Jimmy, unfortuneately, had been called to be lookout. Andrew and Miller had been replaced by two bigger, sootier men that Jo liked as much. All the men of the crew flirted shamelessly with her, though they knew she was engaged. Bruce did not let up either, at least once Jimmy was gone. Jo discovered she had more in common with Ann than she thought. And had also pleasantly discovered that Jack was a playwriter. She just might have something in common with him too.

She rolled her eyes when she saw Marcus and just stuffed another spoonful of Lumpy's walnut oatmeal in her mouth, chewing noisily, ignoring Marcus' look of disgust and Jack's knowing smile. Nevertheless, Marcus insisted on sitting next to her, getting rid of her appetite for the rest of the night. Bitterly, Jo thought she'd actually been happier there for awhile.

Almost immediately, Marcus fell into conversation with Bruce whom he seemed to know slightly well. Despite Marcus' uselessness, Jo learned a few interesting things. Carl Denham was a filmmaker, Preston was his assisstant, and they were going to Singapore to film a movie in which Ann would star alongside Bruce. Jack was the script writer. It all seemed to make more sense now.

Seeing that Ann was ready to retire, Jo stood also. Marcus began to stand, but she pushed him back down more roughly than was necessary.

"It's alright, Darling," she managed to choke out. "Ms. Darrow and I have a few things to discuss. Girl things. You understand. Darling." She added, choking on the word again.

"Of course, Baby." He smiled and kissed her hand before she could stop him. As fast as she could, Jo scurried out of the room, wiping her hand on her coat, her tongue stuck out in disgust. Pom and Unger both laughed out loud at the look on her face, as she passed them. She waited at the door for Ann, but as soon as the woman appeared, she grabbed her arm and hurried away.

They strolled arm in arm around the deck for awhile, waving at Jimmy occasionally, talking about their pasts. Jo was sympathetic to Ann's and admired the woman much more than she had thought she would. She began to like Denham more also for giving Ann the part in the movie. She told Ann of her own simple life in England, leaving out everything from before she turned five.

It was getting late, and Ann had to get to bed soon because of the early filming to be done. She did, however, ask one question before retiring. "Jo? Why don't you want to marry Marcus?"

Jo contemplated the question carefully before she could answer hotheadedly. She finally settled for, "He's so...he's just...I mean...he's not for me. Do you know what I mean?"

Ann smiled sweetly. It was sincere. "Do you believe in soul mates?"

Jo smiled sourly. "I don't know about that. I've never been one for romance. It's just that I want to marry someone else."

Ann's eyes flashed knowingly, as is she held a secret she did not yet know. "Who?" she asked plottingly.

Jo hid a smile, as they continued walking slowly, watching the moon fade high into the sky. "I decided when I was seven, and I was as serious about it then as I am now." She said softly.

Ann's eyes asked what Jo eventually told her, slowly explaining the day he'd left. "He never came back." Jo said softly. "He promised. But I guess promises are made to be broken."

"That isn't true, Jo. You'll never know when he could just show up suddenly."

Jo glanced at her companion slyly. "And now I won't be there, will I? Serves him right for making me wait so long."

"Maybe he did come but couldn't find you or..." Ann stopped suggesting, watching Jo cautiously. "Maybe he just forgot."

"Ouch." Jo said with a laugh. "At least you're honest."

"I'm sorry," Ann said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"It's alright. It isn't your fault, but it looks like I'm breaking my promise too. I promised I'd wait. Not that there's anything I can do about this. Anyway, I've been waiting for twelve years already. How much longer was he planning on keeping me waiting?" Her eyes seemed to travel somewhere else for a moment, as she looked at the stars in contemplation.

"You're planning on running, aren't you?" Ann asked in a whisper.

Jo smiled wryly without looking at Ann. "Ms. Darrow, I do believe it is your bedtime. And if I were you, I would not disagree. Because if you were to do so, it would be my turn to begin asking the questions about _your _love life." This was an effective comment, which made Ann blush deeply. She didn't say a word as they walked towards her cabin, but her eyes seemed to smile for her. Jo walked Ann back to her state room before bidding her a good night. She had planned on returning to her own room but decided to return to the deck once more.

She strolled around alone for a few minutes, her fingers trailing on the ship's railing. Her head growing cold from the night air, she reached into her coat pocket, and took out the hat she carried with her almost everywhere. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was a sign of hope. It had not fit her perfectly until recently. It had always been a bit big until now. She played at the now more than frayed edge before placing it onto her head, delighting at the feel of it there. She kept walking and ran into Carl. He smiled brightly at her

"Evening, Ms. Williams." He told her. "Beautiful night." He gestured to the moonlit waters of the ocean.

She smiled at him curiously. It sounded like there was more to the conversation than he had yet offerred. "Mmm." She acknowledged quietly.

"Listen," he said, casuing her to smile knowingly. "I was wondering if you've ever considered acting."

Jo hesitated a minute before answering as if she was seriously contemplating the question. She finally answered, "I'm afraid not, Mr. Denham." she said simply but politely. "You see," she clarified, "I'm more of a writer myself. Like Mr. Driscoll."

He smiled almost painfully. "I thought so, but it was worth a try. I could use extras, you know, so if you change your mind, I'm always available." Even though he did not say it in a lewd manner, Jo found herself giggling. For some reason, Carl made her laugh when he spoke because you actually had to decide whether or not you thought he was lying to you. Even when it came to the simplest of matters.

All of a sudden Jo could hear the voices of Preston, Bruce and her dreaded fiance. "No, I don't think acting's for me, but there's my cue. Gotta run." she told Carl softly. "Good night, Mr. Denham."

He raised a hand in farewell with a bright, amused smile on his face.

Instead of returning to her cabin like a good little girl, Jo slipped through the corridor that took her to the other side of the ship. Still afaid, Marcus might find her, she climbed the ladder that led to the bridge level. Finding her way around without trying to trip or get caught, she snuck into a corner behind the bridge and sat down comfortably. She could see the stars from here. She even considered sleeping there for the night. Jimmy waved at her, and she waved back happily, putting her finger to her lips, warning him not to give out her position.

She drifted off for a bit, her body exhausuted. When she awoke, the moon was high in the sky, and the ship was quiet for the most part except the bridge. Voices came from there. Curious, tired, and bored Jo stood, stretched and walked around towards the door to the bridge. Before she could reach it, however, it opened swiftly and a huge, dark skinned man stepped out. He looked surprised to see her standing there in front of him, and his eyes questioned her before he even said a word.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked her politely.


	4. Mutterings About Lunatics

Jo was bored. Jo was frustrated with her life. Jo was a bit scared she might get in trouble for being where she was not supposed to be. Jo knew these were not good excuses for her actions, but she just couldn't help it. She made herself look furious, beyond angry. Her eyes flashed at the man. "I demand to see the captain of this vessel at once! Immediately, sir! And I will not take no for an answer!" She bit down on her tongue to keep herself from laughing at the expression on the man's face. He seemed confused and even a little worried, but he couldn't hide the slight indignation he must feel at being addressed so. Before he could speak, a voice traveled from inside the bridge.

"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Hayes?" Jo was surprised to hear the familiarness of a German accent in the voice and hoped that if the captain didn't hate her after this incident, he might speak with her in the German language since her skills had been getting rusty lately, having no one interesting to speak it with.

Brushing past the man, Mr. Hayes, before he could stop her, she got an even angrier look in her eyes as she stalked into the bridge. For one short moment, her glare faltered as she studied the man at the wheel who was staring at her, one eyebrow raised. She gathered her composure fairly quickly, however, and became angry with herself for letting her attentions waver. She glared fiercely at the captain. She was surprised to find that he did not shrivel at her look. He seemed taller all of a sudden, as he met her gaze steadily without a blink.

"May I ask what you are doing on my ship, let alone my bridge?" He asked her, surprisingly soft, though his voice held a dangerous tone. Jo nearly found herself swallowing and backing down from the heat of his own subtle glare, but she found resolve and standing straighter, approached the tall man until she was nearly two feet from him.

"How dare you address me so, sir! I am a passenger on this ship! A paying passenger! And I demand answers of you immediately!" As she yelled at him, Jo found her eyes kept straying from his gaze to study his handsome, chiseled face. Her eyes traveled up to his hat, which hid his hair, and she could not help but admire the hat and the superiority of it over her own worn out hat.

"Is that right?" He asked calmly with a raised eyebrow, seemingly mocking her as Mr. Hayes watched on from the doorway.

"Yes, it is!" Jo realized he was making her feel slightly foolish, but she refused to back down. "You see..." She paused, running her eyes disgustedly up and down his form, though rather than blanching at it inwardsly, she admired it. "Captain," she said the word mockingly, "I am rather unhappy with life at the moment, so I was trying to throw myself overboard. Kill myself. You understand." She said casually with an airy wave of her hand. It took all she had not to burst out laughing at the surprised, wary look of the captain, as she continued.

"What I would like you to explain to me is why this ship isn't going as fast as it should be. I mean, look at the speed you're going." She gestured to the wheel, then out to the water. "Do you really think anyone who jumped from this vessel going at this speed would die? No." She answered herself, hastily. "They'd probably be unwillingly rescued immediately and dragged back on this sorry-arse excuse of a ship! That is if they couldn't drown themselves first!" Jo finished with a shout, her eyes wide. She resisted the urge to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing at the bewildered expression of the captain. He stared at her for a long moment, during which she couldn't help but let one of her lips twitch.

He noticed the slight movement and his own posture changed. He raised an eyebrow at her high as he could and stood taller. Jo began to grow nervous, realizing he really was a lot bigger than her. And stronger. He spoke suddenly, making her jump. "Well then, Ms..." He began.

"Katunacatchorly." Jo blurted out without thinking. She smiled bashfully at him. "But my friends call me Josalianubiget." She was surprised she was able to get such a long word out of her mouth. She noticed a short-lived flash of amusement on the captain's face before he glared at her stonily once again.

"Well, Ms. Katunacatchorly." He said with not one mistake. "If it's suicide you want, I have something to make your way a little easier." He said, gesturing to the door behind him. "Pistol." He clarified.

Jo hesitated a second, delighted he was playing along, however bedgrudingly it seemed. Before she could say anything or move, he spoke again.

"Of course, this is my ship, and I would prefer no messes to clean up, so.." He turned to the doorway. "Mr. Hayes. The wheel."

"Yes, Captain." The man said, looking beyond amused at the confrontation, though warily at Jo.

"What..." Jo began to ask, now nervous beyond belief. She stopped talking at a gesture from the captain to stop. He approached her as Mr. Hayes took the wheel.

"It is settled then, yes, Ms. Katuna?" He asked her patronizingly. "I will have to help you along by throwing you overboard."

Jo became scared, but before she could do anything, she was swept off her feet and tossed over the taller man's shoulder. She couldn't believe the captain's daring and could say nothing for a moment as she tried to regain her composure. Suddenly she wondered if he was serious as he stalked towards the door. "Stop!" She screamed. "Put me down!" She began to beat on his back with her hands. Devilishly, as she hung there over the man's shoulder, she began to hit not only his back but also his behind, but he would not stop.

"Stop!" She screamed again, finally feeling the cold night air on her face. The captain complied. "Besides," she said, breathing hard. "It wouldn't be suicide then. It would be murder." She looked up to find she could see the crow's nest where Jimmy, it seemed, was now sleeping.

"Just consider it a helpful push." The captain said with an exasperated sigh at her words. She felt herself slide to the ground and stood in front of the captain wobbily. She leaned on him slightly as the ship rocked. She backed up to look at his face. He looked frustrated, but his face wore a slight smile. "You don't give up, do you, Ms?" He asked her.

She gave him a wide smile, her eyes twinkling as she shook her head. Her hat had fallen off and rested in her hands, and her fair fell to her shoulders, curtaining her face, red from the excitement, elegantly. She held out her hand. "Jo Williams. It's nice to meet you." She said sweetly.

He took her hand hesitantly for a moment before dropping it with a sigh. "You are crazy, Ms. Williams." He told her simply, his face growing less amused with each second.

Her smile grew. She was left undaunted by his coldness. "Why thank you, Captain. I pride myself on that and my contempt of formal, conventional introductions." She bowed to him comically before placing the hat securely back onto her head. "I do believe you and I will rather enjoy each other on this journey. Just don't let me have all fun." She winked at him wickedly before skipping around him to peek into the bridge. "Good night, Mr. Hayes" She called before turning and skipping down the stairs and out of sight.

For a full minute, the captain stood there looking after her, wondering if that had just happened or if it had all been a figment of his imagination. He turned slowly and joined his first mate back on the bridge, silently watching the night sky from his position. He spoke after a moment. "Did that just happen, Mr. Hayes? Or am I going crazy?"

The first mate looked at his captain with a bemused smile before replying. "I don't think you're the crazy one, Captain."

After a second, the captain shook his head as if trying to shake the memory away. He took over the wheel again, ordering Hayes to check their navigational position. When Hayes joined him once again after having dimmed the lights of the bridge, the captain spoke again.

"She will be of the engaged couple then? The one that actor, Baxter, vouched for? From London?" He asked in a quiet tone.

"She must be. Besides them, there was only a older man and an older woman."

"Older than us, you mean." The captain said with a chuckle.

"Aye, Captain." Hayes replied, amused. "If that's possible."

The captain chuckled once more before glancing at his watch. "Well let's hope she won't be more trouble than she's already been. It's getting late. Have Unger relieve Jimmy. The boy needs some real sleep tonight."

Hayes nodded appreciatively to the captain before departing to do his job. The captain stood in silence, guiding his ship through the choppy waters of the Atlantic. He thought again of the unexpected incident not too long ago. It had been unwelcome, but he couldn't help but admit that it had put him on alert. At the memory of her surprising words, he couldn't help but smile slightly. He shook his head again, though, in disbelief a second later. The woman must be out of her mind. Though he had to admit, even though she was lacking in sanity, she had the looks to make up for it. He nearly rolled his eyes at his thoughts. The girl was crazy. Or at least a bit unstable. Still, he couldn't help but grin wryly at her antics.

"Godamn lunatic." He muttered under his breath with another shake of his head.


	5. Save Me

Jo found herself wandering up to deck once again the next morning. The sun was already high in the sky, yet Ariana was still sleeping soundly in bed. 'Must have woken before Marcus at least,' Jo thought to herself, happy at the thought. She had changed from her nightgown into a white, summer dress that reached below her knees breezily. She had been tempted to wear a pair of breeches beneath the dress but resisted that particular urge in repelling her fiance . Remembering her antics the night before, she smiled to herself mischievously . Now the captain and his first mate thought her crazy. That was fine with her. If she had to endure this unbearable torture, as she liked to think of her temporary engagement, she might as well have fun doing it. She stumbled as the ship lurched slightly. Her hair was nearly unmanageable from her having slept on it and whipped around her face with the wind.

Jo leaned on the railing and stuck her face into the air, deeply inhaling the salty breeze.

"Good morning, Miss Williams!" A voice said loudly from behind her, making her jump.

She turned swiftly, putting her hand on the rail to smile widely at Jimmy who was laughing at having scared her. "Why, top of the morning to ya, Miss Alice." She said with a slight curtsy in an Irish accent.

Jimmy swept his hat off and bowed to her with a laugh. Jo held her bent arm out. "May I escort a lady to din- breakfast?" She asked, trying not to laugh.

"Most kind of you." Jimmy replied, slipping his arm through hers. Laughing, they walked in arm in arm to the galley where Lumpy had waiting for them yet another pot filled with walnut oatmeal. They were joined shortly by Bruce Baxter as they ate. They mostly ignored him and conversed instead about the weather. Apparently, they found it out there to be dry, cold, and foggish, in their words. Bruce peered outside to see the sun shining. Confused, he turned back to eat as Jimmy got up to get back to his duties.

"What's this?" Jo asked, slipping something out of Jimmy's back pocket. "Ooh," she said, seeing it was a book. "So what happens in the end?" She asked Jimmy, looking up at him with a smile.

"No idea. Haven't finished it just yet." He watched as she flipped to the back of the book and read the last page.

"Boring," she said, handing it back to him. "You should read Frankenstein. You look just like him." She snorted with laughter as she spooned more oatmeal into her mouth. Jimmy shoved her shoulder gently before taking his leave. Before he could exit, however, Jo spoke again. "If you see Marcus, ring me a warning, will you? I'll need some time to get away."

"Will do, Miss Williams." He said, tipping his hat.

Jo and Bruce sat in silence for a few minutes, as Lumpy washed the dishes noisily. They were soon joined by Mr. Hayes, Preston, Herb, Mike, Ann and some of the crew, including Pom, Luis and Unger. After bidding Ann a good morning, Jo began chatting with most of the crew, asking about the different travels they'd all been on. Unger spoke about having been kidnapped once by a native tribe on the coast of Africa. Pom and Luis spoke of their time aboard a passenger ship together a few years ago where they'd once dressed up as "gentleman" and wooed the ladies of First class for the night.

Jo and the sailors were talking and laughing loudly as the others looked on in amusement when the captain joined them. He sat to eat in silence as they continued speaking. With a break in the conversation, Jo bid him a good morning. He raised an eyebrow at her as she continued talking energetically to Pom.

He caught some of the words they were saying and listened as Jo spoke. "...and then I grabbed his machete! He thought I was gonna stick it right through him, but you know what I did...?" She asked with a wide smile. Almost everyone at the table was leaning in towards her in anticipation. "I stole the monkey!" She burst out in a rude fit of laughter as Unger, Pom and Luis banged their hands on the table in their own loud amusement.

"You didn't!" Pom roared with a loud laugh.

"I did!" She said loudly. Jo held her stomach as she laughed, tears beginning to leak from her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.

"See, Captain!" Luis said, as he tried to stop laughing. "This girl here ain't crazy. She's the funniest, wildest creature we've 'ad on this ship since..." he paused, "...forever!"

This only made Jo laugh harder, especially when she caught the unamused look on the captain's face. He, himself, was trying not to smile at her hyper activity and non sensical story.

"I appreciate that Luis," Jo told him as her laughter died down. When no one else was looking, however, she crossed her eyes at the captain and stuck out her tongue before resuming a conversation with Ann.

"See there," the captain exclaimed to Mr. Hayes. "She is- she is- she has lost it. She's out of her mind."

Everyone but Hayes ignored him for the time being. It seemed that Hayes was the only one who understood the girl was crazy, or at least the only other one that cared she _was_ crazy.

The captain pushed his bowl back and stood, stalking out of the room past Carl who had just entered. Carl turned swiftly to poke his head out the door. "Hey, wait up!" He shouted. "Englehorn! Damn him and his mood swings!" Carl exclaimed, turning back to join the diners.

Jo, however, on hearing the captain's last name had stopped all movement and speech, her spoon halfway to her mouth as she stared in disbelief at Carl. She stood quickly knocking her spoon to the floor, splattering oatmeal all around her. "What did you just call him?" She asked in a low voice.

"Who? Englehorn?" Carl asked, confused.

Jo slapped her palms on the table to look at Mr. Hayes. "What's his name, Mr. Hayes?" She asked urgently.

"I'm Carl." Carl said impatiently as he took a bowl of oatmeal.

Jo ignored Carl as she gazed at Mr. Hayes. "Is it Thomas?" She asked him quietly, though still urgently.

Hayes looked startled. "How did you-"

But Jo was running out the door already, past a surprised Jimmy. Ignoring Marcus who was coming from his cabin, she stopped to stare as the captain retreated to the bridge. "Thomas!" She yelled at him, her chest rising and falling quickly in excitement. The captain stopped short and turned to look at her, one eyebrow raised in an impatient question. Jo ran nearer to him. Ignoring his inquisitive brow, she examined his face thoroughly . Seeing who it was, she cried out in joy as some of the diners came onto the deck to see what the commotion was about. Jo nearly threw herself into his arms until she remembered he still thought her his crazy passenger.

The captain stared at her incredulously. Jo bounced up and down happily on her feet, grinning wildly, still not saying a word as she stared back. Finally, she spoke, though her words did not surprise him nearly as much as what language she spoke them in. "Was betrachten Sie, Affegehirne?" _What are you looking at, monkey brains, _she'd asked him, smiling as the confusion in his eyes turned to surprise then recognition.

"Skipper right. Girl crazy." Choy supplied for the group of witnesses looking on.

Jimmy, just as surprised, watched the scene with a smile too wide to hide. "Yes she is." He said softly with a chuckle. "That she is."

"Honey buns?" Marcus asked, approaching Jo and the captain. "What's going on?"

Jo looked behind her shoulder with disgust at Marcus. She rolled her eyes, then turned back to smile at the captain. "Jo..." He said softly, a grin slowly taking over his face.

Before he could say or do anything else, Jo threw herself at his feet, wrapping her arms tightly around his legs. "Außer mir!" _Save me..._


	6. Difficult Understanding

Englehorn once again found himself confused by Jo's antics, though this time he was smiling. He bent down and lifted her by her arms, while at the same time asking, "Sie verrücktes Mädchen, Was in der Welt Sie tuend sind?" _What in the world are you doing, you crazy girl?_

She beamed at him, grasping his hands warmly with hers and replying also in German. "Why, begging you for help, of course." She paused, then bowed her head in exaggeration, adding, "Captain."

He chuckled at her. "I cannot believe I did not recognize you." He told her, still in German. They continued to ignore the ship's passengers and crews, most of who stood, staring in slight confusion as the two chattered on in the foreign language.

"Me too!" She exclaimed, slapping his face softly with her hand, before resting her palm on his cheek. "Especially with your old hat on!" She said, remembering her wardrobe the night before.

Englehorn thought for a second before grinning. "Of course," he murmured. He paused to study her again. "It seems you have grown up to be quite the lady."

She threw her head back in laughter. "My mother would wish it to be so."

"How is she?" he asked, his countenance once more a serious one.

Jo sobered also, her smile fading slightly, though he could still see remnants of it in her lit up face. "Fine," Jo replied, reverting to English once more. "She got married again." Jo freed her hand from Englehorn's momentarily to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then reverted to German. "And apparently, she wants me to be just like her."

They grew silent. The captain released her hands and took a step back with a look at Marcus who was edging nearer to them. "Wir haben viel, zum von zu sprechen. Verbinden Sie mich am Helm nach Frühstück." _We have much to speak of. Join me at the helm after breakfast. _

He backed away towards the bridge where he would join Mr. Hayes who had slipped away from the commotion to relieve Andrew from steering. Jo gave him a gentle smile and a two finger salute. "Ay, ay, Captain."

A moment later, Jo jumped at the feel of a hand on her lower back. She turned swiftly to see that Marcus, as usual, looked confused. "What was that about, Jo?"

She was shocked for a second that he had addressed her by her first name. This was a first for him, and she nearly replied when her growling stomach interrupted her. "Old friend," she said with a shrug to her fiancé before hurrying past him. Jo skipped past everyone back into the galley. She grabbed a clean spoon and resumed eating as everyone filed back in.

Jimmy slid into the seat next to hers with a mischevious grin on his face. "Want to tell me what that was about?" He whispered.

"Not really." She spoke to him in an Irish accent, looking up with a twinkle in her eye to see a knowing smile on Ann's face. She winked at Ann before turning to look at Jimmy who was twirling a pen between his fingers.

"Fine." He said casually before looking at her once more with a grin as Marcus and Bruce began to converse loudly about the difference between ivory elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns. He raised his eyebrows at her until they disappeared underneath his cap. He whispered, "Want to fill me in while helping me do something we shouldn't be doing?"

Jo gathered the rest of her sweetened oatmeal from the bottom of her bowl and licked her fingers rudely. "What did you have in mind?"

Jimmy tried to shush Jo as she laughed out loud, uncontrollably. He finally placed his hand over her mouth and dragged her in front of the last poster. "You do the honors." He told her, trying to calm her down while handing her the marker. She took it from him and began to draw on the poster but began laughing again. Growing exasperated, Jimmy took the pen from her and finished their work.

Looking up, Jo burst out laughing and Jimmy had to hold his hand over her mouth again, just the slightest bit afriad they might get caught. Jo stopped finally and gazed at the poster, tilting her head. "Actually, he doesn't look so bad with a moustache."

Jimmy chortled before grabbing her arm and starting towards the door. "He might if he didn't have his head up his-"

"Jimmy!" Jo whispered loudly, interrupting him with a giggle. They stepped into the hallway. "Alright, we'd better separate. I'll go this way. You go that way. Just in case one of us gets caught. We've got to swear not to snitch on the other." She said in a conspirational tone.

Jimmy snapped his fingers. "Damn. First thing I was planning on doing."

Jo giggled, flipping her hair back. "Don't get caught now, Miss Alice." She pecked Jimmy on the cheek before taking off down the hallway. Jimmy laughed once more before taking off towards deck. He was surprised to pass Bruce who was on his way to get ready for filming a scene. As he rushed up the stairs, he heard Bruce opening his cabin door and barely managed to stifle a laugh.

Jo had her own stairs to climb, and as she stepped onto the landing, she prepared to speak with her old friend once more whom she had not seen for over twelve years. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door frame. The captain, who had been deep in concentration at the wheel, turned with surprise to look at her. Catching sight of her, the corners of his lips curled slightly.

"Hereingekommen." _Come in, _he told her.

Jo found herself smiling again. She entered the room and approached him, this time without the urge to cause mischief. She remembered her hat and stopped to slip it onto her head where it shadowed her eyes. "Thomas." She said softly.

Her soft accent brought to his mind old memories. "Ah, of course." He said soflty, indicating the hat. With one hand on the wheel, he reached his arm out and brought her to him. She let her face and hands rest on his chest as they embraced. After a minute, she pulled away. Without a word, he locked the wheel in place, having set a course and stood back, letting his hands rest on her shoulders to study her.

"I wonder that I did not recognize you." He told her. "You've got the same face. Just more grown-up. And the same childish attitude. Yet twice as crazy." He clipped her chin gently, and she pushed him backwards with a chuckle.

"And you remain the same ugly monkey." She told him swiftly in German.

"But the hat," Englehorn began, unable to resist a smile, "you've taken better care of it than I did."

Jo flipped it off her head and played with the edges with a tender smile. "You'll be wanting it back?" She held it out to him.

He reached out to take it, but she pulled it back. Instead, she leaned forward on tip toe trying to meet him at eye level.

Englehorn laughed shortly. "I remember now the first time we met. You made me pick you up and told me crossly that you would one day be older and taller than myself."

"I remember no such thing, Captain. Rather, I remember you picking me up and telling me that one day you'd be prettier and smarter than I, though of course, we both knew that to be impossible."

The captain chuckled. "Keep the hat, Williams. It has shrunk to fit you, anyway."

"I was hoping you would say so." She smiled, placing the hat back on her head.

"Williams." The captain repeated, seeingly pondering the words.

"My stepfather." Jo supplied, her face darkening.

"Tell me." He said to her.

"They've been married for ten years. It's not him really. Or her."

"Do not be too obvious about it," Englehorn said lightly.

Jo smiled slightly. "It's just that I've practically been forced to call him father. I've been forced never to bring up my real father again. I've been forced to wear nothing but dresses. I've been forced to have all sorts of suitors." She paused a moment. "This just isn't the life I had planned on living. But it's all so complicated."

She looked ready to cry, and Englehorn couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy, though he did not quite understand what made her so upset.

"Why the long face, my friend?"

With sad eyes, she lifted her gaze to his once more. "Why didn't you come back for me, Thomas?" She paused. "You broke your promise."

Englehorn stared at her for a moment before turning away with a sigh. He ran his hand over his face suddenly looking older and tired. He turned back to her, looking wary. "Jo, you have to understand that in the twelve years since I left, I only visited my family three times. I barely know them anymore, and they have no clue who I am. The first time I went back, I did look for you, but you had moved. And after that, there was no time."

He paused, then leaned against the wall behind him and crossed his arms. Jo slowly dragged a chair towards her and plopped into it wearily. "I was already in my twenties, Jo. What can be expected? You were a child. Until an hour ago, I still thought of you as a child. Why do you think I did not recognize you? When I looked for you, I wasn't looking for a woman. I was still looking for that little girl who played in the mud and chased boys twice her size around."

Jo smiled at him sadly. "I don't blame you, Thomas. Not really. It's all about circumstance. I am just sad that you didn't find me sooner." She trailed off, and the room became silent once more, as they both thought deeply of the situation, neither of them knowing what they other was thinking.

Englehorn shifted, and Jo gazed up at him again. Trying to lighten the mood, Thomas gave a small grin. "Besides it isn't like you kept your own promise. Jimmy says you are to marry Marcus Major."

Jo did not smile or laugh, and her eyes no longer twinkled in the light. "I've no choice in the matter."

The captain raised an eyebrow at her and stood up straight. "You always have a choice."

"You don't understand." Jo began.

"You are not letting me."

She sighed in exasperation. "Look, Captain, I don't even know you. You don't know me..." She trailed off.

He tilted his head at her. "On the contrary, Miss Williams. Despite the fact that I have not seen you since you were seven, I feel I know you better than anyone."

"Is that right?" Jo stood up, crossing her arms. He was making her angry, and she didn't even understand why.

He grinned sardonically. "It is. You see, I believe that when someone is a child, it shows one who they really are. It is when they are most innocent with little understanding and no reservations."

Narrowing her eyes, Jo spoke. "Well, I guess I don't know you then."

"You could try to."

Jo stared at him, annoyed, with one eyebrow raised high on her forehead.

"Why are you marrying Major?" he asked swiflty in German, trying not to glare at her.

"I'm not!" She exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" He asked in the softest tone she'd yet heard him use, crossing his arms once more.

"That, Captain Englehorn, is a very good question."

Jo tore the cap from her head and threw it at his feet before hurrying out the door, leaving Englehorn to stare after her for five minutes more before Mr. Hayes joined him, pulling him out of his stupor. He got back to the wheel, conteplating his precarious situation.


	7. Something Like Sleep

Chapter 7

"And action!" Carl Denham yelled. Ann and Bruce began their character's dialogue which included arguing. If Jo had been right there, she wouldn't have missed Ann's glee at being able to argue, as fake as it was, with Bruce. Despite that, Jo had noticed that over the few days she'd known Ann, Ann had begun to loosen up, but she wasn't thinking about that at the moment.

She screamed in terror as she ran with as long strides as she could across the deck. Hoping to slow Jimmy down, she flitted into the little hallway that she'd used two nights before. Adrenaline giddily pushing her forward, she flew up the ladder that led above deck. Jimmy was but a few hairs behind her.

"Just surrender, Ms. Williams!" He yelled, out of breath.

"Never!" She yelled, squeezing his hat in her fingers tighter.

She slipped over the rail and let herself drop dangerously to the level below on which the movie members were filming. From above, she heard Jimmy curse in disbelief and a laugh from Pom who was manning the bridge. Without hesitation though, Jimmy followed her, leaving Jo no choice but to rush quick as she could past the scene being filmed and right in front of the camera. Bruce had been stepping forward to be closer to Ann and tripped as she ran past him.

She laughed on hearing Carl's exclamation and the amused laughs of everyone but Bruce and Carl. Looking over her shoulder, she laughed again to see Jimmy run over Bruce instead of sidestepping him. All of a sudden, she stopped with an "oomph", and fell backwards on her behind. Jimmy managed to stop himself in time. Jo looked up and found herself again face to face with Englehorn. She immediately sobered up and swallowed as he stared down at her uncertainly.

"I am terribly sorry, J- Ms. Williams. Are you alright?" He reached out a hand to help her up. She contemplated not taking it, but within she knew, she'd never been the type to hold grudges.

She let him pull her up, then immediately threw herself behind him, grabbing onto his waist. She could see the self-restraint on Jimmy's face as he forced himself not to dart after her. "Call me Jo," she whispered softly right in the captain's ear as she stood on tippy toes. Leaning against him, she felt him shudder but paid that no heed. Looking past him, she stuck her tongue out at Jimmy.

"What seems to be the problem, Jimmy?" the Captain finally asked.

"Nothing I can't handle myself with a bit of rope, lighter fluid, and a match." Jimmy replied slyly.

Englehorn raised an eyebrow, but was interrupted before he could reply. "Englehorn, would you mind keeping your passengers under better order? I can't keep wasting film like this every time these two decide to run around like monkeys."

"Oh, come on, Carl. Settle down. There's a logical explanation for everything." Jo heard Jack reply, trying to stifle a grin.

Ann couldn't help but giggle. Carl caught this and sighed exasperatedly. "Take ten, everyone. You know what? Make it twenty." He thought about his raging headache and the bottles of booze in his room. "Why don't we just call it a day?"

"Excellent!" Jo exclaimed before anyone else could speak. She stepped out from behind the captain, Jimmy's hat hidden behind her back, her hand still resting on the Captain's waist. "I propose a game of cards." She declared, as if it was the most important thing in the world. "What?" she asked defensively when everyone turned to look at her in half amusement, half exasperation. "Why does everyone always look at me like that?" she loudly asked no one in particular.

The Captain leaned over, his lips nearly touching her ear. "Perhaps it's because you've stolen their hats." The air from him mouth tickled the edges of her ear, and it was her turn to shudder delightedly, but it didn't stop her from adding, "Well, maybe if I had my own…"

Thirty minutes later, Jo was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the deck, in a circle with almost everyone else. To her displeasure, Thomas was steering. Even worse, it seemed Marcus and Bruce had a love of gambling. Although they'd walked away to play "real" poker in disgust when Jo had declared they'd be playing Go Fish in pairs with a wink at Jimmy. To the displeasure of everyone else except Hayes, Jo had turned out to be either a very good cheater or a better poker player. After the first few rounds, the two were left with the bets of everyone else who were just watching now.

"I'm all in." Jo said, shoving her entire pile towards the middle, a pile that included Jimmy's hat.

"Let's see, Mr. Hayes. You win, and you get an old hat, a sowing needle, a serving spoon, a dress, and a few coins here and there. The pretty lass wins, she gets a lot more money." Lumpy said sarcastically.

"Hey," Jo replied defensively. "You take the best you can get. Besides, money isn't everything." Automatically, she looked up towards the bridge, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Captain. She was disappointed.

"All in," Hayes repeated, pushing his own small pile.

"I'll stay." Jo finally said.

Hayes hesitated. "Stay," he nodded.

"Players, show your cards," Jimmy said in a ridiculous English accent.

"I can't believe I lost." Jo said for the eleventh time in a row.

"It happens to the best of us," said Lumpy, happily taking his serving spoon with him back to the kitchen.

"Well, I do suppose you'll look quite pretty in that dress." Jo told Jimmy, who triumphantly put his hand back onto his head.

"Sweetums, don't tell me you lost all our money."

"Marcus," Jo said in surprise. "No, just your watch."

She giggled when he actually looked for it on his arm. "Got me, Darling." He said.

She rolled her eyes and said good night to Jimmy before starting to walk away.

"Where are you going, Jo? I thought we'd eat dinner together."

"I already ate," she told him over her shoulder. "I'm going to sleep. Or something like it." For once, the hurt look on Marcus' face almost made her change her mind, but she didn't, though she felt sorry for him slightly.

Once out of sight, Jo swung around the corner to head up to the bridge. But when she got there, she was disappointed yet again to find Pom back at the wheel. Dissatisfied, she finally headed to her room in defeat. Ariana was already asleep. As she turned on the lamp on her side of the room, Jo saw something that made her gasp in delight. His hat was there. Her hat. The hat. She rushed to her bed and picked it up. Instinctively, she smelled it, closing her eyes in joy.

The hat smelled like a million different things. It smelled of her childhood and disappointment. Of cigarettes and cinnamon. Of the salty, sea air. Of dreamy, star filled nights. Of hopes vanishing and reappearing. Of unknown things that might come to pass. Of strangers and friends, old and new. Of walnuts. Of adventures and tragedies and things that aren't quite what they seem. Of ten years of missing something you weren't sure was gone. Of finding things you weren't sure you knew. Of fish and clouds, playing cards and coffee. Of dust floating gracefully in the sunlight coming in from windows. Of reflections you don't recognize. Of laughter and tears. Of winning. Of defeat. Of not quite knowing or caring what will happen next because you'll have to be content either way.

After changing, she slipped into bed, the hat pressed against her chest. She smelt it again before falling into a sleep in which she barely dreamed but could feel tiny tendrils of things that could have been dreams pull at the edge of her conscience.


	8. Mistress of his Existence

Jo woke up early the next morning. Feeling devilish, she changed into a pair of pants and loose fitting shirt. She clambered up onto the deck, looking for Jimmy. Always easy to find, she walked into him coming up from below.

He caught the twinkle in her eye. "What are you up to?" he asked, almost suspiciously.

"Oh, not much." She replied.

"I like your outfit. Of course, I liked it better when I was wearing it." Jimmy smirked.

"Oh, do get over yourself, and show me how to climb up there." She pointed high above them.

Jimmy looked cautiously at Jo. "Where?" he asked.

"The- the- the…what do you call it? The nest?"

"All the way up there?" Jimmy asked incredulously.

"Why? Is there somewhere higher?" She asked.

"Not that I know of," he replied with a smile. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, Jo found herself looking at the world from someone else's view. To

Jimmy's delight, Jo didn't seem too frightened of the height.

"Now I get it." She told him.

"Get what?" Jimmy asked curiously.

"It," Jo replied with a shrug.

"And there I thought you weren't going to be clear."

Jo laughed softly and plopped down onto the floor. "I don't see how you could ever leave this spot."

"Sometimes you have to leave," was all Jimmy said in reply.

They both sat quietly, somberly thinking to themselves of the truth of Jimmy's words. "So," Jo finally said, "what's your story?"

Jimmy said nothing. "Do you believe in second chances?" He asked after a while.

"I don't know. It depends."

"On what?" He asked.

"The situation, I guess."

Jimmy nodded and said nothing more.

"Do you believe in second chances?" She asked him.

He thought about it, then spoke. "I do. For some people."

Jo nodded in acknowledgement, as she stared at the clouds passing them above. "You have that book of yours?" She asked, breaking the silence.

Without a word, Jimmy slipped it out of his back pocket and into her hand.

She began to read from it aloud. " He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea." The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. He was a

seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them--the ship; and so is their country--the sea. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny." She stopped, silent, thinking.

She sat up on her knees and peered over the edge of the nest. Jimmy followed suit to see what she was looking at. Sure enough, he was standing there. Tall and straight and concentrated, Jo knew that as he stared out at the sea, he saw things that none of the rest of them could see. She admired his frame for a moment before sitting back down. She turned to look at Jimmy, who stared back with a slight smile.

"Everyone deserves a second chance." Jo said quietly.

"Not everyone." Jimmy replied. They savored the silence of the next long minutes.

Jimmy took it upon himself to break the silence. He knew she was wondering. "I don't know a lot about him except what Mr. Hayes told me, but he doesn't say much. He says a man's past is his own to reveal."

Jo met Jimmy's eyes until he looked away. "He right," Jimmy muttered.

Jo didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally, "I've never had a brother."

Jimmy looked up at her. "I've never had a sister."

Having reached their understanding, Jo began to smile again and lifted her head to let the cool breeze tousle her hair. She jumped up all of a sudden and threw Jimmy's book into his lap. "Race you to the bottom." And just like that, she swung herself over the edge and started to clamber down the rope.

"No fair!" Jimmy exclaimed. He swung himself off the other side, but was not surprised to see she was already almost to the bottom.

As her feet touched the floor, Jo looked up to see Mr. Hayes heading into the wheelhouse. "Morning, Mr. Hayes!" She called.

He tipped his hat slightly with a short "Good morning." Jo narrowed her eyes, but she found, in the galley, that Mr. Hayes was not the only moody person. Everyone seemed tense, even Marcus, as if they all knew something she didn't. Later, after breakfast, she asked Ann what was wrong.

"I don't honestly know," the woman replied confusedly. "They've all been like this since late last night. No one wants to admit anything."

"I wonder if it's always like this at sea," Jo said out loud.

"Meet me on the bridge later." Jo said suddenly before departing around the ship at a fast speed. She had seen Unger take off this way, lighting a cigarette. She found him leaning on the ship's rail, smoking.

"Well, there you are little lady." Unger said with a grin. "What are you up to?"

"Why does everyone always say that?" she asked, though, of course, she knew perfectly well by now.

"You smoke?" Unger offered her the cigarette. Without a word, Jo took it from his fingers and began to raise it to her lips before suddenly tossing it into the water far below.

"What'd you do that for?!" Unger exclaimed loudly, leaning far over the rail as if searching for his lost cigarette, as if he could still save it. "Those things are expensive, you know!"

Jo tapped Unger on the nose. "Bad habits die hard, Mr. Unger. Sometimes we must kill them." She told him in all seriousness.

"It's 'old habits'," Unger muttered.

"Now, now, let's not be grumpy. Let's see, I'll tell you about the time John and I confused a shopkeeper into giving us a whole sack of groceries for free. We were eight…" As she told him the story, Unger tried not to laugh, tried to say grumpy but could not help himself. A few minutes later, he was walking to get back to his duties, laughing hysterically still, wiping tears of mirth from his face.

"That one gets me every time," he told Jack as he passed him. Jack couldn't help but smile at the sight of Jo and the sound of Unger's laughing still ringing in his ears.

"What are you up to, little one?" Jack asked, joining Jo at the rail.

Jo ignored him at first as she was currently busy peeking at the sea through her fingers which she had shaped into a square to be able to see better. This is, at least, what she would have told Jack had he specifically asked her what she was doing. Finally, she said, "Do you know how long it's been since anyone called me that?"

"Tell me." He said.

"Eleven years about."

"I'm terribly sorry I broke the record."

"You should be, Mr. Driscoll. It's quite unforgivable. I don't know what people would say."

"Well, I suppose we must not let anyone get wind of this."

"I suppose so."

"Two minutes." Jack said.

"What?" Jo asked, confused.

"Two minutes. It's been two minutes since the last time someone called you that."

Jo couldn't help but laugh. Before heading up to the bridge, she patted Jack fondly on the head, leaving him to wonder the last time someone had done that to him.

"Ann, Darling. It's so wonderful to see you." Jo said exaggeratedly. "It's been ages."

Ann smiled, shaking her head exasperatedly. "You have so much energy, Ms. Williams. It's a wonder Mr. Major thinks he'll be able to keep up with you."

"I don't think anyone can keep up with me." Jo said matter of factly, sitting herself on the edge of the rail.

"That's the truest thing I've heard all day," Ann replied with a smile. "So what did you want to meet for?"

"I guess I thought we should talk about your growing infatuation." Jo shrugged, making Ann blush immediately.

"I've no idea what you could be talking about."

"I bet you don't." Jo said slyly. "Well, I don't blame you. I've always had a thing for writers, myself."

"Really?" Ann asked disbelievingly.

"No. I find myself more attracted to monkeys, but to each her own, isn't that right?"

"Right," Ann said cautiously. After a few minutes of silence, Ann finally spoke. "There's nothing going on," she said, sure of herself.

Jo raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. "Nothing will happen." Ann said. "Besides, if anything were to occur, it would end in disappointment anyway."

Jo stirred but stayed silent for a few minutes. Finally, "Why do you say that, Ann?"

It was Ann's turn to not speak. Then, "Good things never last, Jo. They just don't."

"I'm not so sure that's true," Jo said at last.

Ann smiled sadly when she was suddenly called for by Preston from below.

"Go ahead." Jo told her. Ann bid her a good day with a promise to see her later and left the girl to wonder whether what Ann had said was true.

The Captain's chest rose and fell gently with his breathing from beneath his unbuttoned shirt. Jo's hand itched, though not literally, of course. That would be weird. Her hand itched to reach forward and rest on the Captain's moving chest, and Jo was not good at resisting urges. Slowly, she reached forward and lay her hand on the Captain's smooth, hard chest. His breathing sped up slightly but soon resumed it's slow, deep pace. Thomas' eyelashes fluttered, and Jo felt suddenly like reaching forward and kissing them, but she resisted that particular urge, thinking that might also be weird. Instead she stood and carefully climbed over the Captain's sleeping form and rested her head on his upper arm, her hand back on his chest. She closed her eyes, and soon, her breathing matched his perfectly.

Jimmy's orders were to ask if they were to stay on course, due southeast. He knocked on the door of the Captain's cabin lightly and pushed it open without waiting for a reply. He wasn't sure what he was seeing at first but once he realized what it was he _was_ seeing, he backed out slowly and quietly shut the door. As he walked down the corridor, he let out a low whistle and shook his head with a smile. "Crazy Williams," he said under his breath. Well, he certainly wasn't going to be the one to wake the Captain up in such an unusual circumstance such as this. 'What would Jo do?' he thought to himself momentarily. He laughed out loud. He couldn't help it. Who would ever rationally think something like that?

Back in the cabin, Thomas and Jo happened to be dreaming the same thing, though it was more memory than dream:

_Thomas lay flat on his bunk staring at the ceiling, wondering how exactly he was going to let his parents know of his decision to become a sailor. All of a sudden, from the hallway, he heard the familiar pitter patter of rushed footsteps. His bedroom door opened before slamming closed. He didn't even turn to see who it was. He never had to. The small hands appeared at the corner of his bed as the girl climbed monkey-like onto his top bunk._

"_Oomph," Thomas exclaimed uncomfortably as the girl dropped unceremoniously onto his stomach._

"_Your Mama says you want to marry Alice, Thomas," she said suddenly in an accusatory tone. "Is that true?" She spoke in German, her accent evident._

_Thomas chuckled and reached up to ruffle the girl's hair. "I suppose so, little one. One day, maybe. If she'll have me."_

"_Oh," the girl replied. She rolled over onto her back next to Thomas and stared at the ceiling as he did._

"_Why? I thought you liked," he paused as if thinking. "Sophie?"_

_Jo laughed loudly. "Alice." She loudly corrected him._

"_Alice." He repeated. "That is right. Remind me what her name is before I see her so she does not get angry." He waited until the girl was done laughing. "She is nice, yes?"_

"_I suppose so." She replied, echoing his earlier words with hesitation._

_Thomas chuckled quietly and turned his head to look at her. "Would you like me to marry her?"_

_She stared straight back. "No," she finally answered._

_Thomas raised his eyebrows high, making her giggle. "No?" he asked loudly._

"_No." She answered even louder, giggling._

"_No?" Thomas asked again, louder this time before turning to tickle her senseless._

"_No, no, no, no." Jo repeated endlessly in fits of laughter until Thomas finally stopped tickling her._

"_Why not, little one?" Thomas asked, settling down again._

_Once her laugher had subsided, she said, "She does not make you laugh enough, Thomas."_

"_And I need someone who does?"_

"_Aye," the girl stated seriously_.

Thomas awoke suddenly from his deep sleep. Immediately his body became rigid. Something was not right. The first thing he noticed was the smell, the same from his dream. Smells had never followed him out of dreams before, as far as he knew. The next thing he noticed was the sound of someone else's breathing. He felt soft hair sprayed across his chest, then finally turned to see Jo's head resting heavily on his arm. Startled, he jumped off the bed. Jo's head fell to the bed and her eyes opened to look at him blearily before closing again for her to resume her soft snoring.

Thomas looked around worriedly as if someone could be watching. He immediately buttoned his shirt, feeling the heat from his chest where her hand had been resting. He continued to shake his head and look at the sleeping girl in disbelief. He ran his hands over his hair uncertainly. He wasn't sure what to do in the situation. His eyes landed on his desk where all his pencils had been gathered together to spell out the world 'hell.' Confused, Thomas glanced at Jo who rolled onto her back unconsciously before sighing loudly in her sleep. His eyes narrowed at his desk again where things had been rearranged. All the compasses lay in their own pile, as did the rulers, erasers, and pens. Still confused, he shook his head.

"Ms. Williams." He said finally, reverting to formalities because of her unruly behavior. She stirred before opening her eyes and smiling at him unselfconsciously. "What exactly is going on here, Ms. Williams?"

Jo sat up and glanced around the room as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "You've changed, Thomas." She declared, pronouncing his name the way it wasn't pronounced as she usually did. (Toe-mas instead of Tom-mas)

Sarcastically, he asked, "Since yesterday you mean?" The memories of his dream clung to his mind, and he had to stop himself from saying 'little one.'

Jo laughed and rolled her eyes. "Well you were not wearing that shirt yesterday, so…" Thomas kept eye contact, yet neither looked away. Finally she spoke. "There's something about you…" She trickled off again. "You're still Thomas Englehorn, but you're not the same. There's a hardness about you that was not there before."

"It has been twelve years, Jo." He replied almost bitterly. "People change."

She sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "It doesn't matter either way. You'll always be the same monkey brains to me."

Thomas turned to hide a grin. "And what is this mess?" He gestured at his desk.

"I thought it looked better that way." She replied, shrugging, undaunted.

"Hell?" he asked disbelievingly.

Confusedly, Jo stood to peer at the desk, then laughed. "I couldn't find an 'o' to finish it off with."

She stretched her limbs as he watched her carefully. "And what were you doing in my bed?" He asked suddenly reverting to German.

"You do that when you're slightly upset." She said in English.

"Slightly?" He raised an eyebrow. "You still have not answered my question." He continued in German.

She shrugged again. "I was tired?" He didn't reply. "There was nowhere else to sleep?" She tried. "There was no reason not to?" She tried again.

"Try this. You are engaged. I am the Captain of this ship. This entire situation reeks of impropriety."

"Terribly sorry, mother dearest." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms, feigning a frown. When he didn't budge, she said, "It never mattered before."

Thomas sighed. "You are exhausting, Ms. Williams. Grow up. Things cannot be the way they were before. Twelve years." He reminded her. "Everything is different."

Jo lost her smile and met his unwavering stare with her own. "Not everything." She said. "We need to talk."

"Now's not the time." He told her. The things she wanted to know would have to wait to be revealed until she needed to know, if the time ever came.

"Fine, but at least tell me where we're going." She said. "There are rumors that we're headed somewhere dangerous."

"You mean to tell me you do not know?" He asked in near anger. She shook her head. "What kind of man are you marrying, anyway?"

"Not one like Marcus Major, that's for certain." She shrugged yet again.

"That, you have to explain," he told her.

"Now's not the time." She grinned.

The Captain laughed shortly, a sound that did not fit his serious manner. "Touché, Ms. Williams. Touché."

"You still haven't answered _my_ question." She told him.

He reverted to German once more. "The truth is I do not believe we have a real destination, but Denham believes we are on our way to a place in the middle of nowhere called Skull Island. To quote him, an island that has never been discovered. Mr. Lumpy and Mr. Hayes also believe in the place's existence. They speak of horrors from there."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "What kind of horrors?"

"They don't know themselves. I suppose we shall see."

"Indeed we will." Thomas' turn to raise an eyebrow. "There are no clowns though, right?" She asked suddenly.

Surprised, Thomas blinked, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Clowns?" He asked carefully.

She nodded, her eyes wide. "On the island." She clarified.

"I doubt," he spoke slowly, "that those are the kind of things either Hayes or Lumpy would describe with the word horrors."

Jo swallowed, satisfied. "Well, you never can be too careful Those things can pop out of nowhere, you know?" She shuddered.

Thomas' forehead furrowed as he looked at her. She seemed to be completely serious. Shaking his head, he asked, "If I may inquire, where did you think we were headed?"

"Africa. Spain. America, eventually."

"Africa, no." He said. "Spain, no. New York after this little fiasco."

She nodded absentmindedly as she twirled his hat, the one she'd snatched from his desk, in her hands. Her eyes met his as they savored the unlikely silence, and she smiled dazzingly, though he would never admit he thought it so. The corners of his lips twitched as he looked away. Funny, he could hold the fiercest glare there ever was from the craziest of men, but one smile from the craziest of women, and his gaze faltered.

"I must admit, little one," he spoke finally. "I never thought I would see you again."

"I always knew I would see you."

He stared at her uncertainly, then gave her a crooked smile. "I do believe you are going to topple the world I have become used to upside down."


	9. All In A Day's Work

Jack jumped from the ladder the last few feet to the ground and turned to walk to his cage and found Jo sitting on a large cargo box, her legs dangling daintily from beneath her skirt.

"Ahoy there, Driscoll." She saluted him cheerfully.

He stopped warily, his hands in his pockets, smiling. "Ms. Williams." He bowed his head at her slightly.

"There's rumors flying around about the blue pig with wings you have hidden down here."

"I-" he stopped. "Excuse me?" He tilted his head, confused.

"You're excused." She told him. "But before you go, do tell me how you arranged such comfortable quarters. Personally, I am appalled at the filthiness of my own room and more than shocked to see how much better treatment you are receiving. It's because you're a man, isn't it, Driscoll? Well I must excuse myself immediately to take this matter up with the Captain. He'll never hear the end of this." With that, she slipped around Jack who was, as usual, watching her in half bewilderment, half amusement. As she climbed the ladder, she heard a rustle of papers and stopped for a moment until she heard his soft laugh. She could almost hear his head shaking

"Jimmy!" Jo exclaimed back on deck. "Just the man I was looking for."

"That's a scary thought," the boy replied.

"No, seriously, though, " she said, giggling, not looking seriously at all. "Where's the Captain?"

"I thought you were looking for me." He pushed her playfully.

"But now I've found you." She pushed him back. "One must move on."

"You seemed to be able to find Captain Englehorn pretty easily just yesterday, Mrs. Major."

"Someone's sticking their nose where it doesn't belong." Jo replied slyly not meeting his amused gaze.

"I do believe I saw that much yesterday afternoon." Jimmy said.

"I do believe you did not."

"So your nose belonged where it was?" All of a sudden, Jimmy was face to face with the floor.

Jo pulled her leg back and ran swiftly up the deck, calling over her shoulder, "Terribly sorry, Jimmy, dear. Looks like I'll have to take a rain check on that."

"Mr. Hayes!" She exclaimed, from the door of the wheelhouse, finding him at the helm. "Just the man I was looking for. How's the wind color?"

"Color?" He asked warily.

"That is too bad. I'm sure things will start to look up eventually. You hang in there. Seen the Captain?" She said this all in one breath, and he nearly did not understand her.

Quick thinking, however, he replied. "I was wondering the same about you."

"Word does get round quick when you've gossiping girls aboard." Jo raised her eyebrows with a sly smile.

"He's showering." Pom said from within the inner cabin, missing Hayes' meaning.

Jo's eyebrows disappeared beneath her hat, her smile wider."Thank you, Pommy, Darling!" Jo winked at Hayes and skipped away.

"No problem, love." Pom mumbled as Hayes chuckled under his breath.

Jo didn't bother knocking. She knew she probably should have, but she didn't see the point of doing something she should, which is why she found herself slipping into a steamy, humid room. She slipped her coat off and set it onto a chair, contemplating whether or not she should sneak up on him unawares.

Having thought it over, she called out over the running water, "Thomas?"

A loud curse in German, and the curtain abruptly but only slightly, pulled back. Water ran in streams off his face, contorted in shock at the sight of her. "Jo, what the hell fo you think you are doing?! Ms. Williams!" He corrected himself quickly.

"It's been ages since we last spoke," she told him in a whiny voice with a mischievous smile. "Do tell me how life is treating you."

"Ms. Williams!" He repeated in heavily accented English. "Get the hell out!"

"How dare you speak to a poor, frail, young woman in such a manner, Captain!" She sat herself down comfortably. "No, I do believe I shall wait. Anyway, you'll most likely need help applying your makeup afterwards." She ended decisively.

Englehorn cursed again and pulled the curtain shut with exasperation. "So you transport wild animals now?" She asked suddenly. He ignored her, though she continued speaking anyway as if he'd answered. "Jimmy tells me you capture them also. I never figured that's what you'd end up doing. I always figured you'd end up in some sort of military, but somehow this fits better."

'She has me pegged, and she does not even know it,' Thomas thought, shaking his head, as he switched off the water-spout.

"I mean, it's understandable, after all, that you'd want to get closer to your primate roots in any way possible." He wrapped his towel around his waist tightly and stepped out.

She stood and gave him a daring smile as he stared at her. Her smile faltered slightly as he continued glaring at her, but it did not stop her from letting her eyes roam his nearly naked, soaking body. Steam rose from his gleaming chest, as it did from his abdomen and waist where her eyes stopped when he took a step towards her, loosening the towel a fraction enough for it to lower a bit. She swallowed, and her eyes snapped back to his face, his eyes glinting dangerously at her.

"You are," he began. Slowly. Quietly. Menacingly. He took another step towards her, making her nervous as she'd been when first reuniting with him up on the deck of the ship when she had not known his identity. "The most. Infuriating. Person. That I have ever. Met."

Jo couldn't help the smile that automatically came to her face. "Are you aware, Captain," she said, "that you still owe me five pounds for that bet we made on who could eat the most cookies in one go?"

He stared at her a moment, then threw his head back and laughed fully for the first time in years. "And, are you aware, Ms. Katuna, that you are a goddamned lunatic?" He asked when his mirthful laughter had subsided.

"Of course not, Captain. Or else I wouldn't be one, and you shouldn't take the Lord's name in vain, and you should tie this tighter." With that, she approached him and began to pull the two corners of his towel tighter unaware that she had made his body tense with her closeness. "It's making me nervous." She muttered as she tried in vain, to pull the corners tighter.

He lifted her hands almost roughly from his waist. "It's making you nervous?" He asked in disbelief. She narrowed her eyes as if thinking, then nodded. "Would it make you feel better, then, if I took it off?" He asked tauntingly, taking the towel's corners in his hands.

"Ye-" She began then almost backed off with a look of mortification. "No! No! Captain, how dare you." She glared up at him questioningly and saw the sly glint in his eyes. The look in her eyes changed again, and she became determined to better him. "Why, yes, Captain, it would." And she, herself, reached for the towel. As it loosened a bit more in her grasp, she looked up at him. The look in his eyes had changed, becoming unreadable. Her skin was brushing against his own damp skin, and she felt a tingling start in the pit of her stomach and spread lightly to the tips of her fingers. She pulled her hands away as if she had been burned.

He didn't make a move, only continued to look at her face. Her breathing deepened, and she swallowed uncertainly again. At the look on her face, the corners of his lips twitched, and he maneuvered her out the door suddenly. Outside, Jo leaned against the door, putting her hands to her burning cheeks. Inside the room, Thomas leaned his head against the door, locking his hands behind his head until he calmed enough to dress.

"Well, I wouldn't have nearly burnt your face off your head if you'd just listened to me and kept the heat of the stove down." Jo argued with Lumpy playfully.

"For the tenth time, you know it was you 'oo lit the stove." Lumpy retorted, an unlit cigarette balanced between his lips.

Jo stared at him, then shook her head with a sardonic smile. "Nope. I'm not buying it. There is no way in Hades that I know how to light a stove. Unger. Pom. Jimmy, Darling. Back me up on this one."

Unger nodded ferociously. "Absolutely. No way possible."

"Yeah. Definitely not. She's a woman."

"Hey," Ann laughed defensively.

"If you can start a car without keys," Jimmy said, "there's no way you can't light a stove."

"Jimmy, you traitor!" Jo exclaimed, throwing a chunk of potato his way.

"Don't go wasting the food," Lumpy yelled worriedly right as Jimmy caught the flying missile in his mouth."

"Delicious." Jimmy taunted, drawing more laughter in the crowded galley.

And it was. Delicious, that is, though the room was definitely crowded, which was due to the food being, as said, delicious. The meal was a reprieve for all aboard, as Lumpy had prepared it with Jo's help. It was a hit, though Lumpy swore up and down that they would be better off just throwing it out than serving it since, after eating it, everyone would expect only the very best. Fortunately, Jo saved the food from an untimely death and everyone else from another walnut fiasco. Little did she or anyone else know that it would be the last meal they would have for awhile. The smell was as delicious as the taste and wafted throughout the ship, drawing even Hayes in.

The old couple that had boarded when Jo did also joined them. Old Mr. and Mrs. Linde were sweet and naïve folk who knew nothing of the going-ons of the ship, keeping to themselves. They also thought they were headed to Iceland, though Jo politely corrected them every morning. No one knew exactly for sure how they had gotten passage.

"Hello, dearie." Mrs. Linde greeted Jo as the girl served her a meal. "Where's that handsome Captain hiding? Tell him to come here. I'd like to get another look at that behind," the woman said blatantly.

"As if I'm not even here." Mr. Linde complained. "Hello, Mrs. Linde! You're married to me."

"So?" the woman replied. "You don't have a contract on my eyes all the time, dearest." To Jo, she said, "Or you can get that handsome writer. Wouldn't mind a look at that." On spotting Jack, she said, "Oh, there you are, dearie. How are you?" She winked at him and everyone laughed.

Jack nodded at the woman almost bashfully. "How you doing, Mrs. Linde?"

"That's right. It's Mrs." Mr. Linde snapped. "And don't you forget that, sonny."

"No worries, Mr. Linde." Jack replied with a smile before the old man let out a 'harumph' in satisfaction and resumed eating.

"That's right. You tell him, Mr. L. Don't worry. I'll keep on look out." Jo comforted the old man before sticking her tongue out at Jack who just shook his head, smiling.

At the sound of Bruce's and Marcus' voices from the hallway, Jo stood abruptly and rushed to fill a plate with food. She hurried to the doorway just as the two men entered and managed to slip out behind them unseen, causing a roomful of laughter that left two new entrants confused.

She found him at the wheel again and held up the plate full of steaming food. "I made this for you." She told him mysteriously. Without a word, he turned, locked the wheel and studied the plate's contents before taking it from her delightedly (it was one of his favorite dinners as a child), a smile lighting his features. He found that he'd been doing that a lot more lately. Smiling. Around her. He recalled their conversation years ago in which she had told him he needed someone who could make him laugh.

"Für mich?" He asked. She smiled in return, confirming his question. As he began to eat, he wondered if the girl would ever cease to amaze or surprise him in ways good or bad, and he realized he did not know her as well as he thought he might.

She dropped to the floor softly on her behind, leaning her back against the armoire. "I'm not marrying him." She said. She had the uncanny ability to sound as if it made sense to start conversations from the middle of nowhere. Mouth full of food, unable to speak, his eyes did his questioning for him. "I was going to run away." She said. As serious as she was, as serious as she could get, she could never completely rid her face of its almost ever present smile.

She continued nevertheless. "I know what you're thinking, but you have to understand, Thomas. My family is not in the best of financial situations, and my mother only wants what's best for me and doesn't understand that she doesn't know everything. And you know I'd do whatever it takes to help my mother."

Thomas nodded in acknowledgement. "Now that you're here," she continued. "I won't go through with it. I won't. I won't. I won't. And I don't have to run away anymore. At least not very far," She finished.

Having finished his meal, he took his place at the helm once again. "What do you plan on doing?" He asked finally, breaking the silence.

As she studied her fingernails, she spoke. "I figured I would steal Lumpy cigarettes and plant them on Luis before convincing Under that Andrew's in love with him, you know, since Pom was stupid enough to fall for it…Then I thought I'd put a mouse in Baxter's bed and use Mike's recording equipment to catch him squealing like a girl. After that, I was going to borrow Ann's makeup and lather Jimmy's face while he's napping…" She trailed off as he, realizing she was completely serious, look at her as if she was crazy. "U, that's not…" She began uncertainly. "No?"

He blinked and shook his head. "Quite a task, Ms. Williams. Being a troublemaker."

"All in a day's work, Captain. All in a day's work." She stood and wiped her hands off on his coat. "Well, I suppose I'll stick around here today. Couldn't be any worse than hanging around with Major."

"Ich würde nicht von dem so sicher sein." The Captain said, grinning teasingly. _I would not be so sure of that._ Jo smiled back in complete and total uncertainty as she backed away towards the door.

He spoke, his voice stopping her in her tracks. "You still have not answered my question," he paused, "Jo."

She pursed her lips in concentrated thought, then approached him almost seductively until she was but a few inches away. "Whatever I want, Thomas. Whatever I want." The honesty in her voice startled him until she reached up quickly and licked the side of his face and laughed mischievously. She turned and waltzed out of the room giddily, not understanding, he knew, the full effect she had on him. He sighed as her footsteps echoed from above, realizing she'd climbed to the balcony above. He tried to leave thoughts of her behind until they became a distant memory, but they were as infuriating as her and never completely disappeared.


	10. Trying to get yourself killed?

He lifted the dark cigarette to his lips for the last time before flicking the butt of it away from him to the floor. He had, so far, resisted the urge to look over his shoulder at her and was surprised she had not said a thing just yet. He heard her mumble something all of a sudden and turned to find he could not see her from where he stood. He ascended the ladder halfway to find her lying on the cool metal floor, her cheek pressed in the ground. The girl was sleeping. It was barely dusk but it was windy and cold, and for someone unused to the pitching of the sea, it should have been the hardest thing to fall asleep up there. She turned in her sleep all of a sudden to face the sky.

"Not the vanilla cake," she whined loudly, out of nowhere. "The chocolate."

He narrowed his eyes at her, as he shifted on the ladder, grabbing his hat with one hand before it flew off his head. "Andy wanted the vanilla, damn it." At this, he chuckled under his breath, the pouting look on her face comical. "Is it that hard to tell us apart?" She exclaimed. She suddenly swung her arm around. The smile on her face was innocently devilish. "That's what you get." She said almost sympathetically. He shook his head with a slight smile as she twisted again and began moaning, "The monkey took it. The monkey took it."

"Funny girl," he said to himself. He entered the wheelroom and took his place at the helm. Not twenty minutes later, he found himself beyond irritated. The pounding coming from the ceiling was as if there was a stampede above. "She is possessed. That is the only answer." He said tiredly to Hayes who took the wheel, smiling knowingly.

Englehorn stalked out of the room slowly and to the railing where he turned. He shook his head not a moment later to see Jo dancing erratically with Jimmy, both tap dancing hard as they could on the reverberating floor. He watched as Jo tossed her head around in time to the music she most likely heard in her head, her hair flying loosely. Jimmy had begun to laugh in disbelief as they danced without stopping. She finally caught Thomas' eye and nearly fell in surprise.

Englehorn felt something unidentifiable in the pit of his stomach, an emotion he was unfamiliar with, as Jimmy's hand slid up her arm and came to rest on her back in order to support her. "Howdy, partner." She drawled at him loudly, saluting him.

He said nothing, merely stared, as she continued, nonetheless, to laugh. He looked away un-amusedly, placing yet another cigarette between his lips. He saw Jimmy shove her softly as a farewell before sliding nimbly down the ladder, exiting quickly, not too used to being too casual around the Captain.

"Take care of the lowering of the sails, Jimmy." Englehorn ordered quietly.

"Aye, Captain." Jimmy responded.

"Was über mich, Captain?" she asked, dropping effortlessly onto her back to let herself hang backwards off the floor of the balcony, so she could face him…upside-down, of course.

He approached her slowly, his cigarette balanced elegantly between his teeth. "What about you?" He responded, deliberately in English.

The corners of her lips turned downwards in a smile. "Don't I get to help?"

"You get to stay out of the way." He told her.

"Well, that isn't very helpful of me. If you ask me," she said, suddenly excited, "I should replace you as Captain." She saw the skeptical look on his face. "Yes." She said emphatically. "The crew would do good to listen to a woman. Isn't that right, Mr. Hayes?" She shouted.

The first mate took a moment to respond from within the wheelhouse. "On account of not being able to hear you, Ms. Williams, I'm just going to have to agree with you."

"Right answer." She shouted back.

Seemingly bored with the conversation, Thomas turned to stare at the unknown horizon they were approaching when suddenly, he felt her hands on his face, turning his head to look at her. And look at her he did. She stared right back as if searching for something difficult to find. Her fingers traveled his face to his lips. Skirting his lit cigarette, she let the tip of her finger softly massage his lower lip. Her fingers fell further to his neck, then his chest, as if exploring. And he let her do this, knowing not at all why. It wasn't like she knew exactly what she was doing or why.

"Warum tun Sie dies?" he asked so quietly she almost wasn't sure she heard him correctly. _Why do you do this?_

She met his eyes, as if only just then understanding his question. "I don't know." She replied. Her eyes fell once again to his chest and her fingers reached for and grasped the silver chain hanging there. He pulled her hands away suddenly and backed away. Before either of them could do or say anything else, someone spoke from below.

"Yoo hoo! Captain!" Mrs. Linde had finally found him after all. He raised two inquisitive eyebrows and turned to look down at the deck below where she stood, waving a handkerchief. "There you are, Dear. I've been looking all over for you. Listen, Darling, I've got to commend you on such a wonderful trip." The old woman's eyes landed on Jo suddenly. "Oh, it's you, Dearie. Not getting too ahead of yourself, are you? Got to let them fight for it a bit."

Jo laughed loudly at both the woman's words and the confused look on Thomas' face as he turned to look at her questioningly. Jo shrugged but gave her greetings to Mrs. Linde who walked off slowly, her husband chasing her even slower, arguing with her about being a flirt. Jo giggled as their voices faded in the distance.

"I am not even going to ask what that was all about." Thomas finally said.

"Good idea. You really don't want to hear about it. Might scare you a bit, actually, which I know you find hard to believe, but I swear you would. Leave you quaking in your little boots."

He didn't respond to her words, only looked away again before swiftly looking back. This habit he had picked up of looking away to hide what his eyes showed he was thinking from her was starting to annoy him very much indeed. Never before had anyone made him feel so self-conscious of himself, and _she_ was the one who should be blanching at her own behavior. He tilted his head at the amused look on her face. Suddenly her hand shot out to slap him, something she had grown accustomed to doing when they'd been younger. His reaction was quicker though, and he grabbed her wrist in midair.

" You are getting old," he told her with a small, condescending smile.

"If you say so," she grinned.

"I do," he said. They were suddenly interrupted by Alec, the ship's radio operator.

"Message for you, Captain." Thomas turned and took the piece of paper. He read it, his forehead furrowing further with each passing second. He shot a look at Jo that ended their conversation before stalking into the wheelhouse. She remained where she was, on her back and stared at the stars above her, contemplating all that had passed since she had first boarded the ship that she had now come to consider beautiful. She realized that the stars were moving in a different direction suddenly but turned her head to see it was the direction of the ship that was changing. She lay back down without a word.

She heard footsteps from below, then, "What's going on?" Who else but Carl Denham? "Hayes! Why are we turning around?" Then, "Englehorn, you can't just-"

The director was cut off, as Thomas curtly said, "Outside." As she lay there, Jo realized something he had not realized fully before. His deep, accented voice made her insides quiver just slightly whenever she heard it. She narrowed her eyes at herself and shook her own head at her own self. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled to the front edge of the balcony.

"There's a warrant out for your arrest. Did you know that?" Thomas said as he leaned on the railing.

Jo nearly spoke aloud in confusion but clamped her hands over her mouth to contain herself. "I've been ordered to divert to Rangoon." Jo listened to Carl beg Thomas to no avail but felt no sympathy for the director. She stared at Carl as Thomas once again entered the wheelhouse, having ordered Hayes to divert to Rangoon. The director's eyes suddenly met hers. He understood the accusing look in her eyes. He looked away, then groaned in frustration before leaving that level of the deck.

Not much later, Jo was attempting to braid her hair in boredom. She had decided she would stay outside as long as Jimmy did, but she wanted to stay close to Thomas. This was her internal compromise. She nearly shrieked in fright when the ship's horn blew. Looking up in confusion, she saw as banks of fog consumed the ship and waited almost breathlessly as it rolled around her too. Very slowly, she stood, her hands clenching the rail tightly. She could see nothing in front of the ship except for the fog. Involuntarily, she shivered. She could hardly even see the nest where Jimmy sat but for the lights.

Jo swung herself over the rail, balanced shortly on the slippery metal bars, crouched, grabbed on with her hands, and swung down. She let go and landed heavily on her feett but rushed forward to this lower rail, hoping the lights might help her see better. She wanted to go into the wheelhouse behind her suddenly where she knew she would be safe because this fog was as far from welcoming as it could get. But she did not move. For reasons beyond her knowledge, she was entranced. She gazed into a distance she could not see and was not afraid but mesmerized. Still, she swallowed, knowing, just knowing, that whatever lay beyond was not something altogether good. At all.

Men below her began shouting to each other. "Thirty fathoms! No bottom!" She heard yelled loudly. That was good, wasn't it? Not a minute later, "We have seabed!" Jo gasped without hearing it. She suddenly, very badly, wanted to go to Thomas, but her legs would not carry her. It was not out of fear but something she could not identify.

Helplessly, Jo heard the men continue shouting, Hayes and Thomas in the mix. "Ten fathoms!" She heard called. As she stared, a sharp and dark outline came into focus suddenly.

"A wall!" Jimmy hollered from somewhere above. "There's a wall ahead!"

"Mother of God," Jo finally managed to utter hoarsely as she realized Jimmy was right. A wall, indeed. She slipped on her stiff legs as the ship began to turn sharply, but she held onto the edge of the rail, more than entranced by the approaching darkness. The ship was slowing but not fast enough. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen. Just as she began to push herself away with her arms, the ship hit and the momentum she had been about to use to back away pushed her forward. The rocking of the ship helped gravity make her fall in the wrong direction. She suddenly found herself hanging with limp, cold fingers onto the rail, slippery with mist.

As fearless as she had been but seconds earlier, Jo found herself filled with quite the opposite at that moment. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. "Rocks!" She heard Jack's voice from somewhere far in the distance. She looked down, which turned out to be a mistake but managed to whimper in fear. The bottom was too far for her to let go, and her grip was loosening. Realizing she had her voice back, she yelled 'Help,' but was drowned out when Jimmy began yelling about more rocks.

"Goddamn rocks!" Jo muttered, shrieking when her left hand slipped.

She heard all of a sudden what was at that moment blessed music to her ears: a string of curses in German. Strong, warm hands gripped her arms and pulled her to safety. She weakly let herself fall against Thomas as he clutched her to his chest. He pulled her away suddenly and turned her to face him. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, you crazy girl?!" Jo opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by Hayes yelling for Thomas.

"Nicht ein Wort." He warned her. _Not one word._ He dragged her still shaking form with him into the wheelhouse. He let her go, and she let herself fall weakly, on her trembling legs, against the armoire as she watched him push the telegraph lever ahead. He pushed Hayes out of his way and grabbed the wheel again.

"Rocks to port, Captain!" She heard Hayes from outside.

Without turning or slowing down from his job, Thomas spoke to her. "Hergekommen. Halten Sie an zu mir. Lassen Sie nicht gehen." _Come here_, he had said. _Hold on to me. Don't let go._

Cautiously, Jo let go of the armoire and stumbled forward when his arm came backwards to steady her and pull her to him. She wrapped her arms tightly as she could around his waist and braced herself for another crash, as he steered nervously. A wave seemed to have caught the ship suddenly, and Jo had to tighten her hold in order not to fall backwards.. She felt herself pitched forward then against Thomas who used the wheel to steady himself, as the ship rocked violently. A moment later, Jo let go as he rushed forward to completely stop the ship. Both breathing deeply, tiredly, they stared at each other.

"If you must know, I wasn't trying to kill myself this time." She said all of a sudden. "If I'm correct, you were the one steering. If anyone had intention of killing, it was you."

Thomas stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then laughed exhaustedly as he leaned on the telegraph lever. He stood straight then. "Come here, Jo." She rushed to him and let him embrace her tightly, feeling safe against his warm body. "Don't do that again."

**.Just a quick note: In case anyone was confused in the last chapter, it was my fault, as I forgot to mention that the meal Jo helps make is one of Thomas' childhood favorites. This should help clarify that Thomas isn't just a hungry pig for all the food he sees. Also, I've had one of those not-the-greatest-could-have-been-better sort of weeks, and a review would be greatly loved and adored and called 'Precious.' So tell me something please darling readers whether it be that you think Thomas should have let Jo fall then gone off to snog Ann or if you think that this is all a whole bunch of coddswallop I'm writing as I overdose on chocolate.**


	11. Missing Cabbages, Freedom and Seashells

_Sorry for the long wait all, but here is the next chapter. Not that much further into the story if I do say so myself, but we're getting there. Anyway, enjoy as always. But first, some shout outs:_

**Unlimitedshadow: **First off, so enjoying Legacy so keep up the beautiful work. Thanks also for your review. And, I actually did try and research what Englehorn's name was supposed to be and came up empty-handed, so I decided a little tribute to Kretschmann wouldn't hurt and christened my little character (who I don't own of course so put those lawsuits away you joy killers out there) Thomas. If his name is indeed Eric, it is a pity but in all, I'd say that this far in, it's too late to change the name. Thanks anyway.

**will you wait for me: **Gracias muchisimo for review! And your wish is my command, so here is another chapter.

**marianawings: **My most loyal reviewer, hello! Thank you for all your reviews and even more so for the Englehorns and the Seabornes. You are, my dear, quite an inspiration! So merci!

**Lady Lithoniel: **Thanks very much. And as you can see, chocolate is another inspiration of mine, as I cannot write a chapter without having some. If I didn't none of this would be worth reading. Heehee…sigh…thanks again very much.

**Padme4000: **Fabby fab fab review! Thanks a ton! So glad to see you likey me story! Please come back and review again! Ooh, let me tell you thanks in German: Danke.

**Narnia Forever: ** bow curtsy Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You are all too kind! But it is for you that I write and because of all you that I keep going, so also give yourselves a pat on the back! Eh, not too much. Eh, little bit more. Yeah, like that. Glad to see Jo's such a celebrity. Wonder if it'll get her her own star on that walk of fame thingy. Thanks again you!

Jo opened her eyes and rubbed them tiredly. She rolled over to sit up and found herself rolling right out of bed. With a yelp, she landed on her back, her legs in midair as she tried to figure out just what the bloody hell was going on. She rested her feet on her bunk and turned her head upside down to stare at the door. She then remembered what had occurred the night before and scrambled quickly to her feet to run out into the hallway. She had gotten as far as the door that led out to the deck when she realized she was in her nightclothes still. With a yelp that produced a startled, questioning look from a passing sailor, she turned back and ran just as fast in retreat to her cabin. Quick as she could, she threw herself sloppily into the first outfit she could find. Finally, she was rushing onto the deck, stumbling as she went. The sun had barely come up, yet most of the ship seemed to be awake.

The slant of the stuck ship made it difficult to maneuver the deck. To her satisfaction, however, she only fell once. She was about to rush up the ladder to the wheelhouse when a sound she had not heard since she had left London stopped her in her tracks. She slowly retreated back down the ladder and stared at the door of Thomas' cabin. She had noticed the phonograph the day she had snuck in there, but she had no idea he played it, especially at times like these when, in her opinion, the rest of the crew was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Well, except for Jimmy who had taken to reading his book once again. And Mr. Hayes, who never seemed to lose his cool. And Lumpy, who was only worried about his missing cabbage. And Andrew, Pom, and Unger who were all playing cards at the moment. Jo sighed to herself as she entered the room, once again uninvited. The music became louder as she closed the door behind her, and for a moment she stood and watched Thomas standing with his back to her, leaning to the side only slightly.

He swiveled his head slowly to take her in as she approached him, but then turned back to study the maps before him. "I still do not understand it," he muttered to her in German.

"That's it out there, isn't it?" She asked him in the same language. "The place Denham's been looking for." He glanced at her darkly but did not reply, returning his gaze to the maps. Just then, the record ended with a slight scratch. Jo sat herself down at his table, letting herself fall back on the leaning chair. She watched him until he turned around.

"What?" He asked softly.

She shrugged in response. "I realized something." He waited, knowing his silence was expected. "You make a wonderful captain." All traces of amusement had left her face, and she stared at him seriously.

"How can you be so sure?" He replied in a slow, careful tone.

She shrugged again with an impish smile that tugged at his only recently responsive heart. "How can I not? Things could be a lot worse than this," she said, referring to the current situation. "The point is your crew trusts you. You're their leader and they are going to stick by you no matter how bad it gets." His eyes continued to question her silently. "It appears I've come to know most of them better since I came aboard than you have," she said in response, "but it doesn't change the facts. You've earned their trust and respect. That's all that matters."

"Maybe I do not deserve those things." Thomas said quietly, but her words had already lifted his spirits the way she'd meant them to, and he found himself studying her fondly.

"You wouldn't have them if you didn't." Jo replied. Seeing the new look on his face, she smiled again. "I know now." She said. "What's changed about you."

"And what is that?" He asked.

"You're free." She said simply with one more shrug of her shoulders.

He chuckled darkly. "No one is free. Not truly."

"You're wrong," she said, smiling.

He shook his head. "We are all bound to something."

"Like what?" She asked softly.

"Die Vergangenheit." He replied in just as soft a tone. _The past._

She smiled uncertainly, deciding for the moment only to ignore his words as she knew it would get her nowhere to question him. "Still, you possess now a freedom you did not before, and like it or not, Captain, you've changed because of it. What I can't figure out is: is it for better or for worse?"

From above, someone began calling for the Captain. Thomas swung his hat to the top of his head and cautiously made his way to the door. "Sie erklären mir." He called over his shoulder as the door swung closed behind him. _You tell me. _

She grinned to herself. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I will."

A few minutes later, Jo was clambering into one of the ship's lifeboats with an overstuffed basket in her hands. Apparently, Marcus would also be joining them, but she didn't mind so much this time as long as he would stop asking her what she planned to do with the basket. She sighed contentedly to herself as some of the crew lowered the boat. Jimmy was looking down on her with uncertain eyes. She put a finger to her lips, and then yelled to him, "Silence is key."

As the boat touched the water, she adjusted the stolen hat (namely Lumpy's) on her head, checking to make sure her hair was completely hidden. As Tom and Marty began to row, the boat moved slowly forward over the choppy waves. Carl stood to set his camera up and film their approach. Jo giggled to herself when she wondered what might happen if she were to push the director and his stinking camera right off the boat. Ann looked at her curiously, and Jo was about to explain what was so funny when Jack's wary expression caught her eye. Everyone seemed tense. Jo studied the sharp, dark island they were approaching.

"It can't be too bad." She said, and everyone but Carl looked at her. "I mean, sure the fog makes it look like something could be lurking out there and the rocks aren't exactly inviting, but…" She paused here. "It's kind of cozy." She finished, herself uncertain.

Bored with the quiet, she hung her head over the side and came up sputtering, the spray of the salt water having drenched her face. "Well that wasn't very nice at all." She muttered.

"Can you believe this, Jack?" Carl said suddenly. Jo glared at him for interrupting her as he continued. "Skull Island! We've got our picture!"

"Well, it's a good thing that it's at no one's expense." Jo said loudly, looking over her shoulder at the Venture. Jack hid a grin, but Carl pointedly did not respond.

"The water's pretty," Jo said a few minutes later.

Ann looked over the side and sat back up as if startled. Jo sighed to herself and leaned back. "Well, hopefully the natives will be of a cheerier sort." She said.

"Sweetheart," Marty said, "as long as they don't eat each other, it's all good."

Jo grinned and let her hand now hang down into the water, trailing the shifting water with her fingers. "Well, in case they do require a human sacrifice in order to be civil, one of us should volunteer now, so it's not all confusion and pandemonium later." She let her gaze rest lazily yet pointedly on Marcus who was watching the island apprehensively and oblivious to her words. But Tom and Marty and even Jack let out soft chuckles, albeit tense chuckles but chuckles nonetheless.

When they hit the rocks with a soft bump, everyone exited the boat slowly, everyone all the more uneasy at the gloom that seemed to await them in the long cave they faced. Jo leaned her head back far to study the steep cliffs towering above them. She squealed silently when she realized the rest had walked ahead of her and rushed to join them. She knew this was not a place in which she wanted to be alone. But the skulls lining the wall caught her eye, and she could not resist.

"Souvenirs!" She exclaimed cheerily, leaning over to pick one up and stuff it in her basket.

They continued walking and soon the dreariness of the island made even Jo fall silent. She nearly hesitated at the long bridge they came upon, but on seeing everyone else doing the same thing, she clutched the rough rope on the sides and carefully walked across, feverishly hoping within that no one would follow until she was safely across. As she waited by herself, Jo hummed to herself and flicked stones over the forbidding cliff and into the valley below, though got nowhere near the edge. She smiled encouragingly at Ann once all were across, but her lightness did nothing to lighten the moods of anyone else.

Back on the ship, Captain Englehorn was helping the others to stop one of the last leaks below when a sudden thought popped unwelcome into his head. He grabbed Pom by his shirt and had him take his place before rushing above deck, his boots slippery on the ground. "Where is Jimmy?" He demanded of Choy. Before the man could answer, Thomas asked him where Jo was.

"I not know. Saw her earlier. Maybe she in room reading. Jimmy with Hayes." The man finished, pointing to the wheelhouse.

The Captain hurried to the above deck. In the doorway of the wheelhouse, he spotted Jimmy within the little cabin. "Where is J- Ms. Williams?" He managed to correct himself in time.

The boy was caught off guard and, for a moment, did not answer. "She-" He began but was cut off.

"Went with Denham, didn't she?" The look on the boys face confirmed what he had suddenly realized should be one of his worries. Thomas began to mutter to himself loudly in German, though no one else knew what he was saying. Finally, he focused. "Prepare the boat. Get Pom, Unger, Andrew, and Fin to help you. Now. Quickly." He directed this to Jimmy who jumped into action. Hayes looked questioningly at Thomas but followed him to hurriedly retrieve the guns from the captain's cabin. Soon, they were on their way, not knowing what they would find. Thomas's face was cool and collect. To all, he was calm, but inside, he was anxious, and the only two words he could associate with Jo at the moment were 'stupid' and 'girl.'

"Well look at that. This is pretty cozy." Jo exclaimed as they walked through the forbidding looking village. She opened her basket and piled seashells into her hands. "Looks like they could use a bit of sprucing up though, don't you think?"

Jack absently agreed with her with a nod when no one else did. Satisfied, she began to call out the word 'seashell' as if some native would rush out suddenly, fearless now that there was talk of seashells.

"Sometimes I wonder if you could possibly be serious sometimes." Jack said to her quietly.

"Sometimes." She said with a smile.

"It's deserted," Preston said suddenly.

"Of course it's deserted. Use your eyes, Preston! This place is a ruin! Nobody's lived here for hundreds of years." Said Carl.

Jo looked doubtfully at the fresh fish heads caught on spear tips. "If you say so," she muttered under her breath in a sing-song sort of tone.

Jack chuckled lightly under his breath but followed her gaze to the dead fish. Before he could say anything, though, a strange sound pierced the silence. It was like the crying of a child. Everyone became frightened as they searched for the source. Carl inched forward over the rocky terrain and the rest of them hesitantly followed to see a dark child standing about ten feet before them, holding his hand up stiffly.

Wondering if this was some sort of welcome ritual, Jo hurried to stand by Carl and held her hand out in the same manner while trying to make a face like hers or his or whatever the kid was. Carl glanced at her confusedly.

"Mr. Denham, I think we should go back." Ann said in a wavering whisper from behind them.

"I'll handle this." Carl replied. He reached his hand into his suit and pulled out a half-eaten chocolate bar that he offered to the child.

On feeling the first drops of cold rain upon her outstretched arm, Jo lowered her hand slowly and stared up at the sky as Carl approached the child with the chocolate. Her eyes trailed over the bamboo spikes that, though they had sparked an academic's interest in her earlier, were now threatening and terrifying. She had a habit of realizing something was wrong, but it always came when it was too late to prevent something bad from happening. She suddenly agreed wholeheartedly with Ann. Not for the first time in her life, however, her curiosity got the better of her over her big mouth, and she watched in uncertain fear as the moron director tried to stuff the candy into the child's hand.

Bruce spoke up exasperatedly as the child cried out and struggled with Denham violently. "For godsake, Denham, leave the native alone."

"She doesn't want the chocolate!" Jack exclaimed.

That same feeling from the night before, right before she was thrown over a rail on the Venture, came over Jo once again. She couldn't turn her head from the sight of the native biting Carl's hand, but out of the corner of her eyes, she saw them, nearly dark as the stones they had been hiding inside of or behind only moments before. Unconsciously, she swallowed in fear, but, at the same time, had the sudden urge to laugh. Jimmy had been right. It would have done her a world of good to keep her too-curious-for-her-own-good-behind on the ship.

"It's alright. It's just a bunch of women and old folks. They're harmless." Encouraged only slightly by Carl's words, Jo turned her head to look at a wide-eyed female, nearly naked and approaching her threateningly.

"Seashells?" Jo asked in a weak voice. At the sound of a piercing scream she terrifyingly realized was Ann's, the heavy basket dropped from her hands, and she watched as its contents spread across the wet and rocky ground. Seashells cracked into pieces on the floor. Lumpy's molded cabbage went flying out of sight. Jimmy's shoe bounced across the floor and into a gap in the rocks. Jo gasped in shock at a loud, bestial roar in the distance but still close enough to keep her rooted in terror to the spot. Suddenly she found herself surrounded by a new group of younger, male natives.

All around, there was chaos, as Jo struggled with one man who held her tightly against him, a sharp rock at her neck. She fought him ferociously until he grabbed her wrist and began to twist it. She tried to catch her breath as he dragged her, struggling all the while. Watching the chaotic crowd to her side, Jo tried to distinguish friend from foe. In horror, she watched as a tribal man with a sharp weapon killed Tom with a blunt blow to the head. She had no time to react, as the man holding her suddenly began groping her scandalously.

She spotted Marcus, away from the crowd, staggering backwards in fear. "Help!" She managed to scream over the noise. He searched the crowd and his gaze landed on her. He stopped hesitantly only for a moment before walking backwards a few more feet. "Help, please!" Jo screamed. His hand gestures were meant to be reassuring as if he was going for help, but all they sparked in Jo was a sudden loathing. She had no time to dwell on this hatred, as the native's hands were clutching her in a manner that made her want to throw up.

"I don't think so!" She managed to gasp out, as she kicked the man's knee hard with the heel of her heavy boot. His hold on her loosened, and she managed to slip from his grasp and was suddenly pulled back by her hair and pushed against a rock, hitting her head on the side of a jutting stone. She had the advantage of facing her attacker, who was now coming at her with his weapon, and she kicked him right between the legs, and he fell to his knees, glaring viciously.

"So all men really are all the same after all." She couldn't help but grin victoriously. This giddiness was short lived, for as she watched, he began to stand difficultly. Jo gasped for breath and looked desperately around for something she could use as a weapon, but looking around at the overwhelming number of natives compared to their party, she would be fighting a most definite losing battle. The freezing rain soaked through her hair and her clothes, but she was shivering from more than the cold as the native before her looked about ready and capable to commit murder.

Two other natives rushed at her from nowhere. She flinched and tried to protect herself with her arms, but they merely grabbed her roughly by her wrists and held her towards their fallen comrade, as he began to stand. Jo struggled to no avail as the man leaped at her, grabbed her hair and began to drag her behind him yet again, though twice as viciously.

"No!" She screamed desperately as her legs trailed over the sharp ground. She clawed at the man's hands, but it did not seem to hinder him in the least. Suddenly a loud, booming noise echoed throughout the previously deserted village. Jo knew the sound of a gunshot when she heard one, and relief flooded through her body, as the natives scattered panicky-like. A renewed motivation overtook her, and she twisted on the ground, so the native had to let go. He turned as if to grab her again, but she was already scrambling away, and the gunshots had his undivided attention. He tossed his stone at her face in frustration and then turned and fled.

The natives were gone, replaced by heavily armed sailors and whatever else it was they did for a living. Jo fell back to the ground and stared at the stormy sky, elated for the first time in her life to find herself alive. She held her clammy and cold palm to the stinging cut on her warm face. It was a long scratch, but thin and, already, the blood had been washed away by rain. Still, he had left his mark. A shadow fell over her suddenly, and she looked up in fright, wondering if her captor was back to finish her. Despite it all, though, she could do nothing else but smile widely at the face her eyes fell on. He looked nowhere near ready to smile himself. Even the word frown would have been an understatement, but she took the look as more than a blessing all the same.

"I-" She started, ready to defend herself.

He held up a hand. "Not one word." He said in a low voice.

"But-" She started again. He shook his head, and she stopped. He reached forward and lifted her to her feet effortlessly. She started to speak again, but the look in his eyes made her stop. He observed her for a moment, his eyes lingering over her fresh cut. Her arms were wrapped around her shivering self, and he whipped his leather coat off before draping it around her. She delighted in the slight warmth the coat provided and snuggled deep into its collar. "I-" She managed to say before he raised an eyebrow at her. Defeated, she let him guide her in silence to join the rest of the retreating crew. Up ahead, Jo spotted Ann being supported by Lumpy.

They walked for a few minutes in haste accompanied by a heavy silence. Jo, however, could no longer take it. "You're not mad, are you? Because you can't be mad. A girl has to make a living somehow. All I was going to do was sell slome seaslells. Slells. Slellshe. Doesn't matter." She said with a dismissive shake of her head, though she continued without even taking a breath. "How else am I going to support myself if I'm not to get married? Besides you never said I couldn't come. Not that it would matter. I mean, you're not my father. Which is a good thing. Excellent, if you really think about it."

So far, Thomas had kept his silence but had stopped in front of her to face her. She stood anxiously there, speaking without pause. "Say something already, will you, Thomas? I feel like it's all me talking. Which it is. Tell me you're furious and would like nothing better than to lock me up forever in a cage on your ship. Tell me you're not mad but just have a sore throat that leaves you completely incapable of talking. Tell me you could never really be mad at me. Tell me I'm stupid. Tell me anything. Tell me to shut the bloody hell up-"

In a swift movement that even he had not predicted, Thomas' lips were pressed tightly against hers. She stiffened slightly for a moment then relaxed, closing her eyes. Her hand flew to grasp his shoulder, as she found her knees suddenly weak and unable to completely support the rest of her body. His hand held the side of her face that was uninjured lightly. His lips softly massaged hers, and he let his tongue graze them. Just as her mouth began to open in welcome, he jerked away. He met her eyes for a second. They had a hungry yet confused look in them. He turned promptly and continued on his way as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Most of those following them had simply slipped around them. Andrew and Unger had taken up the rear and, coming upon a frozen Jo, both grabbed her by her elbows and helped her along and though both had witnessed what they both considered something they knew they really shouldn't have, they both made sure to ask if she was alright. She did not reply, though, her gaze locked unwaveringly on the tall form up ahead of them.

"You know, Andy, never thought the day would come I'd see somethin' like that." Unger spoke up as they hurried over the slippery rocks towards the bridge.

"What? Our Captain kissin' like it's nobody's business? Which it ain't o' course." Andrew replied.

"No." Unger shook his head, trying to suppress a smile. "Our littl' monkey keepin' her mouth shut long enough to get kissed." At this, the two men burst into laughter.

Jo regained her senses enough to pay attention to their conversation. "Oh, shut it already. You bunch of gossiping giggling girls." At her grumpy retort, the two burst out laughing yet again. "Frankly, I'm surprised the two of you manage to keep your own mouths shut long enough to kiss each other."

Neither Andrew nor Unger could restrain their laughter for very long now. Finally, "Nice try, Jo." Andrew replied. "But it weren't us who couldn' detach their lips from the Captain's just a minute ago."

"Shove off." She tried saying this with an angry pout, but it only came out just about affectionately. Her lips, still tingling from earlier, curved into a reluctant smile. "Well," she said after a bit, "I'm off." And with that, she pulled her elbows away and skipped off ahead of them, passing even the Captain who did not react at it. She caught up with Ann just as they entered the dark, murky cave. She slid her arm around the woman's slight shoulder and glanced sideways at her sympathetically.

"Are you alright?" She asked her softly.

"Oh, I'll be fine. I just feel strange." Ann reassured her friend. "It'll wear off. I just hope Jack will be alright."

"Shakespeare up there?" Jo gestured at his unconscious figure being laid inside one of the lifeboats. "It'll take more than a knock to the head to kill that one. He's probably just faking anyway. Writers really do have a tendency to be overdramatic." Jo reassured her friend who now had the shadow of a smile at least upon her face.

When no one was looking, Jo grabbed another skull from the side of the cave and stuffed it into the coat she was wearing that was not hers. "That'll show them to break my shells and steal my souvenirs."

"Oi! Jo!" Lumpy called from behind her. "Unger here says you know somefin' about me missin' cabbage." Looking nervously over her shoulder, Jo hurried to join the crowd at the lifeboats, hoping to lose him somewhere behind.

As she approached the water, she began to shout. "You people there! Raise anchor! Hoist sail! Whatever it is you have to do, get me out of here!"

"Hey!" Lumpy shouted. "You get back here, you little-"

Jo squealed at his approaching voice and looked over her shoulder again. Next second, she was tumbling head first into the closest lifeboat.

_Now REVIEW! Danke!_


	12. Slip N' Sliding Ship

_So sorry. It is a bit short and took me forever to post, but here it is. Like it. Love it. __**Embrace **__it. Ooh, some shout outs. Gotta love these things:_

**will you wait for me: **Thankers you! Here's another chapter to love, and I promise another sooner! So gracias gracias gracias!

**Padme4000: **Danke, you! And actually, I'm not German at all…far as I know…unless there's something I'm not being told. Wouldn't mind marrying one though…hehe. Thanks again, you!

**Narnia Forever: **Thanks muchisimo 4 your review! Lovely thoughts! Enjoy this one! It's for you!

**MonokeShojo: **Thanks for the review Darling! I'm actually _not _learning German right now. It would be great too, but I haven't got the time lately. Soon though. Thanks, you!

**Marianawings: **Thanks you sweet genius! I'm glad you like _my _Jo! And okay, so maybe this isn't exactly the place for this, but I'm like still soooo in loveee with your story! Update!!!! For me!!!! Please!!! Alright, enough with the begging…whisper I'll get on my knees later and beg you if I have to. Thankee you again!

**N1LE: **Thanks, you! So happy to hear I make y'all laugh! Anyway, here's your update! Thanks again!

**Hurley's Belial: **Here's the update and lookin' at you kid! Haha, so thanks very much for your kind words (that's for all of you), and I'm glad you be likin' me story so muchy. You all make my day…s… Now…READ!

Jimmy helped Jo out of the lifeboat. Without a second thought, she hugged him tightly. He was not used to such affection and did not return the gesture, but it didn't matter to Jo. She was just happy to be back, happy to be alive and happy for another reason she wasn't ready to admit to yet.

"Are you alright?" He finally asked, his eyes falling on the scratch she'd managed to acquire.

"Are _you_?" She shot back happily.

"Sure I am, though I didn't grow a coat while you were gone." He smiled, holding her arm as they backed away from the lifeboats.

"Oh, this?" She gestured to the Captain's coat, as she leaned against the ship's walls tiredly. "Traded my seashells with the natives for it. What do you think?"

"Looks like the Captain's, but you look great. I wondered where your basket had gotten to."

"So did I." Jo nodded, but her eyes had found the Captain again. He was speaking to Ariana who was now watching her worriedly. The maid hurried over a moment later and grabbed Jo's arm. Walking toward the door that led inside, she began to pull the girl's arm with her.

"Got to get you dry, Jo, before you catch pneumonia."

"I'm not catching a thing, Ary, I promise." Jo protested, trying to resist, eager to stay on deck where, in her opinion, the real action was.

"The Captain insists, Jo. It will only take a few minutes. We can't afford you to get sick before the wedding."

"The Captain?! Wait! What wedding?" Jimmy heard Jo exclaim incredulously. He chuckled as Jo let herself get dragged inside, protesting all the way.

By the time Jo was able to escape back to the deck, the sky was dark. The crew was once again running around like mad. The ship was rocking like mad from side to side as rain water spilled onto the deck torrentially. Jo spotted Lumpy tossing empty, wooden crates over the rail and into the water. She stumbled ahead to rest beside him.

"What's happening, Lumpy?!"

The man turned to look at her and released a cigarette from the inside of his mouth and replied through gritted teeth. "Got to throw everything overboard to get 'er off the rocks!" He replied loudly over the noise of the even louder ocean. "The Captain's orders, love!" He shouted before disappearing inside once again.

"The Captain. The Captain," she mocked. "The Captain says this. The Captain says that. The Captain. It's all about the Captain. In my opinion, the Captain can go-."

"Yes?" A most familiar voice sounded from behind her.

"Fly a bloody kite?" She squeaked, turning to face him. "You know, you really have this bad habit of sneaking up."

"Interesting idea." He said. "The bloody kite one."

"Isn't it though?" She replied. "Wait." She said suddenly. "Everything overboard?" For a moment, she stood there, muttering to herself under her breath. He was about to reply when she flew off down the deck, leaving him to chuckle before getting back to work. She knew just how to lighten his mood without trying.

Thomas headed away, still shaking his head in familiar incredulity. In regret, he helped Andrew and Unger toss a large table overboard. He didn't know how he was going to make up the losses. At least no one was dead, he thought as he hurried towards the bow of the ship. With a pang, he remembered Tom. So not everyone. An image of Carl floated in his head, and he saw red. The director would pay. It wouldn't be so bad if he at least acted like he cared, but even losing one of his own didn't seem to faze him enough. A scuffle up ahead caught his attention. It wasn't the shouting that first caught his attention. Enough of his sailors were doing so already, as they repeated his orders. It was Carl Denham's particular shouts that pulled him from a thinking stupor. As if the man hadn't already caused enough problems. Up ahead, Carl was struggling to take his camera from Choy who was putting up a good fight.

"Get off me! Get off me!" Choy was shouting.

Carl finally tore the blasted camera from the smaller man who fled in the other direction. In growing anger, Thomas watched as the director nearly fell backwards onto the stairs separating them. A gale of water from the sea drenched them all, but Thomas hardly noticed. Carl had turned, and their eyes had met. Carl realized he had not won quite just yet. Thomas approached him quickly, his hand sliding along the ship's rails, one finger pointed threateningly at the director.

"Throw that thing overboard before I break your neck," he yelled at the annoyingly persistent director who clutched the camera to his chest as if it was a child and, humped over, began walking difficulty away in the opposite direction. Thomas stumbled awkwardly down the stairs as the ship continued rocking back and forth violently. "Dump it, Denham." He exclaimed as he lumbered across the deck in pursuit. With another rock of the ship, the Captain stumbled backwards and leaned tiredly against the ship. He spoke exhaustedly, but with each passing second, his tone grew in volume and anger. "All of your cast will have died because of you!" With that, he leapt towards the director. For all his anger, he wasn't even sure what he planned on doing.

"Don't you dare threaten me!" Carl spit out. Englehorn grabbed the sides of the camera and tried to wrest it away. "I'm warning you!" Carl snarled. Beyond impatient, Englehorn punched Carl twice in the face, momentarily stunning the man who dropped the camera which slid away from them with the movement of the unstable ship.

With Thomas' third punch at Denham, Jo appeared from around the corner, her face a mask of confusion. Her appearance distracted the Captain for a moment, long enough for Carl to retaliate with a half smack, half punch. Another punch followed, and at that, a shocked Jo exclaimed, "Hey!" She started forward as if to interfere but stopped when Thomas yelled at her in German to stay out of it while punching Carl at the same time. Carl reeled backwards, nearly falling again. Carl punched Englehorn hard enough to make him stumble. That, combined with a lurch of the ship, sent the Captain flying to the floor. "Stop!" Jo yelled now in anger, watching incredulously as a certain determined captain crawled towards the camera.

As Carl made to jump on Thomas, Jo made a split second, spontaneous decision, which means she didn't even stop to consider what she was doing and jumped onto Carl's back and began pulling his hair. He nearly toppled backwards but instead began thrashing around and clawing at her hands. She clung to his back tightly, so as not to fly off, and on catching sight of his hand grasping at her arm, she bit it viciously. He screamed out in surprise and pain, tearing his hands away to nurse his wound as he thrashed wildly still in the futile effort to get her off.

Meanwhile, Thomas had gotten the camera and stood triumphantly to break it at the least. His shoulders drooped in annoyed exasperation, as he realized just how crazy Jo could be. "Let go, you stupid girl," he said in a tired tone. The two stopped struggling at the sound of his voice and stared at him for a moment.

"Must I?" She nearly whined. She didn't wait for an answer, taking the look on his face as the only answer she needed. She slipped off slowly and stumbled backwards, away from the fray. Thomas held the camera up over his head now, ready to toss it, but with one last strong lurch of the ship, it was out of his hands once more, as Thomas grabbed onto the ship to prevent falling again. The ship was free of the rock; it was moving. With one last glare at Carl who was now cradling the camera, Thomas grabbed Jo's arm and dragged her behind him to the wheelhouse.

"Let go of me!" He heard her exclaim from behind him, but he turned to see it was not him she was shouting at. "Let go of me, Marcus!" She exclaimed again, this time managing to pull her arm free from Marcus who was awkwardly standing behind them, a confused expression on his face.

"What's gotten into you, sweetums?" He asked in a bewildered tone but was stunned into silence a moment later when Jo slapped him stingingly across the face.

"Don't!" Jo growled back at him. "Don't. Call. Me….anything!" She finished angrily. "Don't talk to me!" She told him through gritted teeth.

"Leave her alone, Major!"

"You stay out of this, Englehorn! This is between me and her! You've no right! No right whatsoever!" He exclaimed indignantly.

"Maybe so," Thomas replied, "But as captain of this ship, I've every right to throw you off of it wherever and whenever. Now I'm not sure about you, but I think I just made this between you and me." He left the threat hanging, tightened his hold on Jo's arm, and took off again. "What was that about?" He asked in German.

She explained quickly what happened on the island and how willing Marcus had been to leave her and save himself. It took Jo a second to realize Thomas was no longer beside her but behind. Swiftly she turned to catch hold of him. "Not now Thomas! You have a job to do!" For a moment, Jo was afraid he wasn't going to listen.

"He's a coward!" Thomas nearly yelled at her. "You can hardly call him a man!"

"I know, Thomas!" She shouted back, grappling at his arms as he struggled to free himself from her to go back the way they had come. "I know." She repeated.

"He doesn't deserve you." Thomas whispered to her loudly, their faces inches away as Thomas stopped struggling and stared back into her eyes.

"It's not him I want."

Thomas took a deep breath as her words sank in. "I want him off my ship." He said finally.

"Later." She finished quietly. "You're bleeding," She touched his lower lip gently and showed him the spot of blood on the tip of her finger.

"I am fine. I cannot even feel it. Are _you_ alright, you lunatic?" He asked endearingly, though his eyes were serious.

"Tip top condition, Captain." She said with a loose salute, and he had to suppress a smile, though he no longer saw the point in doing so, as he knew she knew he wanted to. In unison, they turned and hurried side by side towards the wheelhouse. "Do you really think you could have taken him though…Major?" Jo asked him teasingly as they clambered up the steps, both soaking and cold. Thomas gave her a hard look and she hid a smile as she said, her arms raised in defense, "Okay. Okay. Forget I asked."

Their unhappy adventure was still not over, as the Captain and his first mate had yet to navigate the way out of the storm of rocks. To the annoyance of everyone present in the wheelhouse, Jo provided a nonstop chatter of commentary. "Ooh. That was a close one." She stumbled backwards and grabbed onto the wall for support as the ship slid one way and then the other, suddenly letting out a sharp intake of breath. "Yup. That one would have torn her to shreds." A moment later, "Oh, she's a goner…nope, there we go." She shut her eyes tightly at one point and covered her face with her hands. "Oh, I can't look." She finally noticed Thomas glaring at her. "What?!" She said defensively. "If you would just follow my directions, we would…" She started in German, cutting herself short when she remembered Hayes was there. "Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, how terribly rude of me. Let me translate. What I said is…there's a monkey in your drawers."

At that, both Hayes and Englehorn let out unexpected snorts of laughter more out of stress than anything as steering the ship remained difficult as before. Suddenly, with one last swell of the waves, they were free of the stony battlefield. As everyone outside cheered, Thomas and Hayes noticeably relaxed with inaudible sighs of relief.

"Told you we'd make it." Jo announced triumphantly. "And the two of you carrying on like a bunch of pansies. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

"Why you infuriating little…" Thomas started towards her. With a squeal, she ran towards the doorway. All movement within, however, stopped with the renewed sound of a frantic voice. "-an!" They heard incoherently.

"Jacky, the old boy! Coming to visit us!" She exclaimed before continuing in a puzzled voice. "But something about bananas…" She let Thomas push her outside so they could find out what was going on.

A panicked Jack was rushing up the ladder. "They've taken Ann." He said finally, out of breath. As if on cue, they could now hear a drumming from the island. Thomas looked at it worriedly to see bright shadows reflecting off the surface of its stony surfaces.

"Are you certain?" He asked calmly, though in his sinking heart he knew already the truth. There was no avoiding it. They would once again have to go to shore.

"Yes!" An exasperated Jack replied. Thomas knew there was no room for hesitation, not in a situation like this, where every second counted. Hopefully. He immediately jumped into action, ordering Hayes to be replaced at the wheel and the rest to once again start collecting weapons and ammo. The ship also had to be anchored. Followed by his men, he hurried into his cabin where the Tommy guns were stored. With regret he noticed someone had taken his gramophone, most likely to throw it overboard, but he didn't stop to mourn its loss. It had been under his orders after all.

He hadn't noticed when Jo slipped away but didn't take the time to ponder it as the sailors crowded into the lifeboats. Had he paid close attention, he would have seen a slighter figure than the rest, sufficiently covered nearly head to toe, climbing nondescriptly into the boat that would follow his. The thought never crossed his mind that she might do something so recklessly stupid once again.

IHateDannyIHateDannyIHateDannyIHateDannyIHateDannyIHateDannyIHateDanny

Jo did what she could to stay out of sight, especially _his _sight. For she knew if he even spotted her, he'd know immediately it was her and, quicker than that even, she'd be back on her way to the ship. But no one paid much attention to her as it was. Everyone was much more worried about what was going to happen once they reached the village. To her surprise, she'd been passed a gun. She wasn't the type to take advantage of a situation but in this case… 'The early monkey gets the banana,' she thought to herself, the only result of which was she had to force herself to stifle a giggle.

She had a hard time of keeping up with the rest of them, for their legs were longer, but she made up for that with an enthusiasm to win, though she hardly felt this was a competition. 'Too bad I can't make any bets,' she thought. 'Or can I?' She tilted her head at the thought, as outwardly she panted, still racing to keep up. 'Nah,' she shook her head a moment later, a weak smile on her lips. "Next time, my dear. Next time," she told herself only semi-evilly. Her muscles burned as she crested the hill before the village, but she didn't stop to rest. She held the gun out in front of her and advanced behind the men, not daring to call out for Ann, for she'd only give herself away. Still, she had eyes.

Gunshots rang out, making Jo flinch, but she didn't want to be left out. She aimed the front of the gun up and started playing around with whatever metal parts stuck out, occasionally trying the trigger. Moments later, she was lying stunned on the ground, the gun next to her on the floor. She sat up, fixing her hat. "Whoa…" She gave a low laugh. "Talk about power," she nearly sang to herself. She jumped to her feet, clutching the gun and rushed ahead, the villagers all nearly scattered by then. Seconds later, a familiar roar sounded from behind the humongous wall. Jo gasped, falling back, watching as someone looking terribly like Jack rushed up the steep stairs and as a pudgier figure slipped behind the wall's gate.

Up ahead, completely unawares of Jo's presence, Thomas stood in complete uncertainty. The whole trip was turning out to be completely not worth it whatsoever. He nearly chuckled at the thought that it had taken him this long to figure _that _out. Honestly, he didn't even want to imagine what had made that god-awful noise. It was intriguing, sure, but all he really wanted to do was get the girl and get off. 'Besides,' he thought, 'Jo's still onboard the _Venture_. Who knows what kind of trouble she's getting herself into?'

He had no idea.


	13. Dinosaurs and Nursery Rhymes

_Hey, my loyal ninchucks! I have missed you all dearly, and I know you've missed me more. Seriously, I know one of you is stalking me and it needs to stop immediately. But, seriously, in all seriousness, here I am, back from the dead! Love me! Or we, I should say…we all know you guys don't really care about me… You're just using me to get to Jo and the Captain and Jacky boy Shakespeare and Jimmy's knickers! Well, if that be the case, you've come to the right place, and I swear here and now, on pain of death, I own no rights to this bloody plot! (Well maybe Jo…and stupid Marcus Major…and some other parts, but they're on sale on Amazon, if you'd like. Good prices. You should check it out. Anyways…enough nonsense from me…bloody thanks for all the reviews, mates…a gal could make good use out of pals like you.) Oh, if I do say so myself, I do crack my bloody self up…R&R Por Favor!_

Jo watched Thomas intensely for a few moments and pulled her hat down low over her face. Her usual giddiness had been replaced with serious contemplation over what she was about to do. She wasn't sure exactly why she was doing it, but she knew she had a long trek through the jungle ahead of her to figure it out. She glanced at the hole in the wall and back at Thomas who was gazing intently at the same gap. She longed to go over to him. His anger would be short-lived, she knew, to see her and would immediately be replaced with the relief of knowing that even though she had been planning on doing something insane, she had not gone through with it. She fought the urge difficultly, and he looked away finally towards the ocean. This was her chance. For one last, long moment, she studied him, his stance. Memorizing it was about the best she could do at the moment. And then she was off.

There were a number of reasons Thomas had decided to stay. Jo was among them. He wanted to- No, he needed to go check on her. Already, the girl had given him one fright too many the past few days. He searched the face of every man that passed, though he was unsure of what it was he was looking for. Finally he looked away from the entrance in the wall. A few moments later, his gaze was once again directed at the same place. He was almost sure he had seen a shadow flicker across the wall before being swallowed by the darkness behind it. A second later, he was convinced it had simply been a figment of his imagination. He had been looking so hard, he had managed to convince himself he had seen whatever it was he'd been looking for, though he was not sure what that might be.

It took Jo all her strength and concentration not to scream as she swatted away yet another huge, flying insect. As they continued their trek into the jungle, the bugs only seemed to be growing bigger. In fact, it was a bit hard to focus on the bugs at all with everyone else running so far and fast ahead and screaming Ann's name. Jo, of course, could not, for she knew her voice would be a dead give away of her identity. Anxious not to get lost or left behind, she forged ahead with the rest of the group, a slow burn taking over her legs painfully. The gun was beginning to weigh her down as well. After a bit, everyone's breathing became shallow and labored, and it became silent. This time they listened for any noise instead of making it. Jo had been silent for the past hour and was itching to speak, but she managed to refrain herself for the time being. Every noise in the vast jungle was magnified a hundred times, their ears having become accustomed to it. Any bird that squawked or chirped. Every single branch that tumbled to the ground. Any critter creeping close by. Jo shivered at how eerie it was, but most of all, she shivered at the missing sound, the one their ears were really searching for. Ann was nowhere to be seen or heard, and Jo had a very bad feeling about the whole ordeal.

A crashing noise suddenly erupted from within the vicinity ahead of them. Jo jumped, her heart crawling its way up into her throat. She wasn't sure what Carl had seen and had only heard a few snippets of the others' conversations about it. If there was one thing she'd learned from the situation so far, it was that monkeys were no longer funny, and she resolved never to call Thomas one if she ever had the chance to again once she'd gotten herself out of the mess she'd gotten herself into in the first place. She hung back with most of the sailors and watched fearfully as Mr. Hayes inched forward cautiously, his gun at the ready. The ground trembled under Jo's feet, and she wanted to run but just like all the other times, she knew she couldn't. And she watched in horror as a creature she had only ever seen in books appeared in front of her very eyes, not even two hundred feet away. She watched as it stampeded towards them, trampling men she knew, men she had played cards with, men she had laughed and danced with, under its feet. A power beyond her consciousness forced her out of the way in time, forced her legs to make her leap behind a tree into a spot the...dinosaur, there was no other word for it, into a spot this dinosaur could not follow her.

She was climbing to her trembling feet and had barely regained her senses when another, a different dinosaur, was rushing directly her way. She couldn't help but look straight into its wide, moist eyes and understand that it seemed to register her, to recognize. And there was no time. She would be crushed, and she'd never known or pondered what it would be like to die. And those eyes became a striking blue, a blue so piercing and honest and bright with intelligence and warmth she still couldn't look away but only because she didn't want to because if she could choose what to look at while she was dying, it would be that sight. And suddenly all she could see was a spinning earth in blurring colors of greens and browns and reds... the entire globe seemed to have unhitched itself from whatever was holding it in place. Suddenly it stopped, and she was dizzy, and there was pain, but it was nothing like the pain she had imagined she might feel. There was a weight on top of her, light, too light to be a dinosaur, and it was moving and suddenly she was looking into a lighter blue pair of eyes than she'd seen earlier and even though it wasn't him, it was second best.

Nearer to tears than she'd ever been in her life and trembling with a fear she wasn't sure she'd ever overcome, Jo cried out and held Jimmy to her so tight that he, himself, cried out in pain. But he returned the embrace this time. And with his heart beating near hers, her heartbeat calmed, and she was able to breathe again. Gunshots had sounded out around them and the ground had stopped trembling. Shakily, Jimmy got to his feet and pulled Jo up onto quaking legs. They circled around the tree, away from the rest of the sailors, for a proper greeting. Jimmy boxed Jo lightly around the head.

"What are you doing here, huh, Jo?"

Jo had regained her senses enough to realize she was being rebuked by someone who had to be younger than her. "I would say the same to you."

"Yeah, Jo. But it's different. You're a-"

"Jimmy, I love you to death. You know that. But I swear on our getting out of here alive, if you say woman, I'm going to slap you so hard you'll be singing nursery rhymes for the rest of your very short life."

Jimmy's sly smile had returned, though the creases in his brow remained. "For your information, I was going to say girl, but-" He wasn't able to finish. A second later, his face was stinging. He started to let out a long string of overly explicit curses, but Jo put her hand over his mouth, laughing.

"Shhh. Before we're caught. You deserved that, but I know for a fact you're not supposed to be here either, so no snitching, Ms. Alice, remember?" Her eyes had lit up once more with joy to be able to speak again, especially with Jimmy. But as she turned away from her grinning friend, she picture Thomas' face again. She still wasn't sure if she had made the right decision in coming, but it was too late to turn back, so on she would go, with a friend at her side once more. "Is Jack okay, do you think?" Jo asked quietly. She peeked around the tree to answer her own question and, to her relief, saw both Jack and Mr. Hayes, both alive. Lumpy and Cho and Pom and Luis and Unger all rested, out of breath, ahead of them.

She turned back to Jimmy who had his arms crossed and was looking at the dense foliage around them as if anything at all could come leaping out at them. "Dinosaurs, huh?" He said, out of breath still. He smiled as if he had just said something absurd, which, of course, in a way, he had.

"Either way," Jo murmured with a smile, "I just saved your life." Jimmy couldn't find the words to say what he needed to, as he looked at her as if she was crazy, which, of course, in a way, she was.

They finally got on their way again. There didn't seem to be a path to follow through the jungle, but it had been hours since they had passed through the wall and a weak sunlight had begun to peek through the cracks in the thick trees above them, and, up ahead, a brighter gap of light was poking through. That was the way they were headed, desperate to get out from under the huge claustrophobic trees and out once again into the open. Most of the sailors, including Jimmy, were used to the wide expanse of the ocean ahead of them, only sky above and were becoming anxious and cranky so crushed in. Jo had only become as cranky as everyone else because she was so tired. She snapped at Jimmy whenever he deigned talk to her, and her face was so dirty by now that when the others looked at her, they couldn't tell it was her, so whenever they did look, she glared them down.

They finally got out into the open, the sun hurting their eyes for the first few moments, but the air tasted cleaner and clearer. Here, at the foot of a hill, the only way to go was up. Mr. Hayes allowed five minutes to rest.

It was at the end of these five minutes that Jo woke with a start when Jimmy jostled her shoulder. She still felt as exhausted as when she had first fallen asleep. "How long has it been?" She asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Since what?" Jimmy asked, helping her stand before slinging both her Tommy and his over his shoulder.

Jo heard the ruckus the rest were making and hurried to throw her pack on. "Since I fell asleep," she clarified, as they made their way towards the group of departing sailors.

"Just two minutes, Jo. Hello, I was telling you about my plan. To save Ms. Darrow. You said you thought it was genius. What were you doing? Sleeping?" He chuckled but broke off when he saw her eyes widen. "You're joking! You were sleeping?!" His voice rose dangerously in volume.

"Jimmy, dear. Best keep it down before we're discovered. I don't want to have to beat you into submission."

"Yes you do," he retorted. "As if you could anyhow. Besides, don't change the subject. You've always been good at that."

She guffawed as quietly as she could. "What? For the 96 or so long, long, long hours you've known me?"

Jimmy scoffed now. "Jo," he began disapprovingly. "You know it's been longer than that...at least 100 hours. And, still, after all we've been through, how can you speak like that?"

As they climbed the rocky terrain, lagging behind the long line of sailors, Jimmy turned to make a face at her but could no longer see her. Looking ahead, he saw the most likely reason for her sudden disappearance. It happened that they were passing on a particularly narrow part of the trail. Mr. Hayes, with a look of naught but suspicion upon his face, had stopped to let the sailors pass by in order to take up the rear. Panicking, Jimmy knew he'd only be drawing more attention to himself by stopping, so he did the only thing he could: slouched his shoulders, pulled his hat down as low as it could go without covering his eyes and prayed he could make himself as easily invisible as Jo could herself. It was to no avail, though, as he had know almost instinctively it wouldn't be.

"Just keep walking, Mr. Hayes. Pretend you didn't see me." Jimmy said without looking at the man when he whipped the hat off his head.

"Jesus, Jimmy!" Hayes exclaimed. Letting the hat drop, he snatched the one Tommy he could see right out of the boy's hands.

"Hey! I need that!" Jimmy responded defiantly, reaching to take back his weapon.

"I'm not giving you a gun!"

"You were younger than me when they gave you one!" It wasn't fair, Jimmy thought, that at his age, he was still treated like a child. He had seen so many things that kids his age in most parts of the world would never see. Why should he be left out of everything anyone deemed inappropriate for him?

"I was in the army. I was trained. I had a drill sergeant." Hayes tried reasoning now. He was angry and worried to have had his suspicions about Jimmy confirmed, and he was frustrated there would be no way to change it unless they turned around.

Jimmy looked hurtfully up at him. "I just wanna help bring her back."

The anger in Hayes' chest withered and he found himself handing the gun back. "Don't make me regret it," he said, a dread-like feeling now coming upon him. A slight movement behind Jimmy caught his eye, and he had a thought he might know the cause of it. He grasped Jimmy's shoulder and pulled him forward.

"And you brought the girl..." Mr. Hayes said with a tone perfectly implying it was the icing on the cake of things that could go wrong.

Jimmy turned to see Jo crouching behind where he had been just a moment before and looking up at them abashedly. He raised two eyebrows up at her. "And here I always thought you would be better at hiding than...well, normal people."

Jo began to grin as she stood up from her crouch. "It's more of a covert situation when I want it to be, if you know what I mean." She turned from him to Hayes. "So..." She began.

"Meaning no offense, Ms. Williams, but I don't think anything you have to say on any matter is going to help the situation much at all right now."

"Well!" Jo exclaimed dramatically. "I never!" Seeing the smirk on Jimmy's face, she elbowed past him roughly, muttering about the way barbarians treated ladies "these days." They heard her greeting the other men playfully. There was a jovial outburst from Pom and Unger followed by a "What in the blazes do you think yer' doin' here, little miss," also from Unger.

Lumpy had his fair share to say on it and wasn't entirely convinced they should hang her upside down from a tree by her toes for being so adamantly disobedient. It wasn't long before Jo had them all laughing, however, grim as their reason for being there in the first place was.

"Jack, love!" She exclaimed, tipping her hat at him. "Fancy seeing you here!"

Jimmy couldn't help the chuckle as he watched her skip among the sailors. The chuckle only got him a hard look from Mr. Hayes who only shook his head at Jo's antics. It wasn't long, however, before the atmosphere once again grew quiet. It was inevitable that it should, for there was no sign, not one noise or sight that told them they would be leaving the blasted, indomitable excuse for an island anytime soon. And there was no room for laughing and joking when your lungs were burning with the arduous task of going on and on with no end in sight.

Naturally, Jo was the first to drop herself into the shade of the steep cliffs looming high above them. She watched tiredly as Jack grew more agitated at the prospect of stopping if even for a second the search. She watched with narrowed eyes as Carl and part of his crew sauntered off with that pesky camera. She was the only one to laugh at Lumpy's theory of the abominable snowman. And she was the first to notice the difference in the tiny pebbles on the ground, which were no longer stationary.

"Jimmy," she muttered. He murmured a question as he came to join her to look at whatever new spectacle she could have found on the floor when he noticed the earth was actually shaking under his feet now. It was like before in the jungle, only a hundred, maybe a thousand, times stronger.

"What the bloody hell is that Baxter doing now?" She spoke aloud, watching as he did the ever smart thing and began to run away.

"Jimmy," Mr. Hayes exclaimed suddenly, out of his stupor. "Jo! Run!" He grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks and pulled them along. Jo had no footing the first few seconds and had to grab on to Jimmy's hand to keep from falling when Hayes let go of her. He grasped her hand tightly, and they ran for all it was worth, not knowing from what or even why.

_Anyway, I know that probably wasn't as much as you guys would have liked, but there are crazily duperty things coming up soon. Also wanted to apologize for taking so long. And then giving you guys a chapter like this. No kissing! What! Don't worry, my perverted friends…all in good time! Also, you must enjoy the brotherhood/sisterhood with Jimmy and Jo. They are long lost siblings! But not really…just soul-wise really, if I do say so myself. Anyway…Muah!_


	14. What Makes A Coward

_**A/N: **__Muchas gracias for all the lovely reviews! Those things keep me floating. Sorry for the long waiting, but I know that no one was actually holding their breath. And if you were, congratulations because you must have just broken a record! As usual, I own nothing King Kong. Just Jo. She is my slave, and she will do as she is told! Okay…got a little carried away there. Would appreciate some more awesome, constructive reviews. If not, the Cookie Monster will get you!_

**Chapter Thirteen: What Makes A Coward**

It was comparable to running from one end of a ship to another in the middle of the sea in the midst of a storm. Though, perhaps, ten times more difficult to do. The ground trembled beneath their flying feet, and rocks fell at their sides and behind them, crushing the air in the spaces they'd been seconds earlier. Every second was potentially the last second of their lives, as boulders tumbled down the sides of the cliffs, and the humongous dinosaurs fled above them, their gigantic legs shaking the earth's surface. Jo heard the screech of the second type of dinosaur before she saw it, the reason they were all fleeing. It was in no way reminiscent of the ape's roar from the day before, but it was more chilling, for it was the sound of a clever predator that wasn't used to losing its prey. They were fast, and they were hungry. There was no doubt of that.

"Go, go, go!" She could feel Mr. Hayes' hand on her back, and, in a surge of grateful adrenaline, she realized that he was pacing himself to keep them in front of him, himself between them and danger. Her thoughts were muddled as she raced for her life, and she felt Hayes' hands tear her away from Jimmy. They were separated, but a second later, she saw why. The dinosaur above them had caught momentum and was racing ahead of them now. They would have been crushed. Her breaths came faster now, ragged and uneven. The fear had taken time to set in, but it now consumed her as she fought against it. She was alone now, in a sense. She didn't like that.

The scenery changed as she dared a glance sideways to see Jimmy and Hayes running one in front of the other close to the cliff, the legs of a dinosaur between her and them. They were leaving the canyon behind now and moving into open sky. If she'd had the breath for it, she would have screamed when the first dinosaur tumbled into open air and disappeared below the cliff's edge. She changed direction as most of the stampede did and saw, with a rush of relief, Jimmy sprinting in front of her. Time was passing in a speeding rush she wasn't used to, but she saw the dinosaur before Jimmy did, before he could to save himself. With a rush of speed she never knew she'd had within her, she sprinted forward and tackled him to the side away from the cliff's edge. The momentum should have sent them sprawling to the ground, but they managed to keep their balance and keep on running. They were within another canyon now, a wider one. Jo desperately felt like clutching her pained side but knew one mistake could kill her.

She had her gun still, but she knew she shouldn't use it, though she couldn't remember why. As the gun shots sounded loudly from ahead of them and the winning dinosaurs began to cartwheel through the air, she realized the reason. It would be a sort of chaotic domino effect where the only place for the tiny, insignificant humans was crushed underneath these giants. She didn't dare look behind her to see which dinosaur would soon be her final blanket. Thankfully, she didn't have to, for suddenly, Jimmy was wrenching her sideways as Mr. Hayes pulled him away from the fray by the scruff of his shirt. The breath was knocked completely out of her when she flew against the cliff, but she was alive. As she gasped for air, she looked gratefully at Hayes who was watching the chaos behind her with panicked eyes. His weapon shot up and fired, making her flinch, but the raptor was dead before it could even comprehend what was happening. Hayes rushed them forwards towards a slanted break of the cliff side that allowed for climbing. Most of what was left of their company was already clambering in their direction. Hayes pushed Jimmy towards the cliff. The boy stumbled, but he caught himself on a sharp rock and started pulling himself up and away from danger, cutting his hand in the process. Hayes grabbed Jo's shoulders roughly and hauled her up. On his perch above them, Jimmy took her by the arms and pulled her up as Hayes lifted her. She took Jimmy's hand, slippery with blood, and scrambled up next to him.

"Go!" Mr. Hayes yelled at them in an annoyed tone as they stood there waiting for him. It took him seconds to join them, and they clambered up to safety, helping each other when the climb got difficult or slippery. At the top, Hayes took her hand and pulled her the last few feet up and over. She flew into Jimmy and they fell together onto the moist grass. Jo rested her face in the ground, pulling deep breaths of air into her aching lungs. She rolled onto her back, resting her head on Jimmy's stomach and stared up towards the sky, protecting her eyes from the sun with her hand. She was more than tired from just their last run. She hadn't slept since the early morning before. Her muscles screamed in exhaustion, but when she heard the others clambering upward, she made herself stand and go over to Hayes to help them up.

She breathed out a whoosh of air in relief when she saw Jack rising up towards her. She took his sweaty hand and helped him over as best she could, so he didn't fall the way she did. His breathing was shallow, but he managed a quick thanks. He stooped over and grabbed his knees, trying to control his breathing. When his breathing evened out, he stood up straight and looked at her tiredly, a smile of relief forming on his face. He clipped her chin with the back of his hand gently. "Boy, am I glad to see you're alright," His voice was hoarse with relief. She returned the smile and gave him a short hug. He returned it awkwardly and then looked at Mr. Hayes. "We better get away from here." A short nod was all he needed. He gently took Jo's arm and started walking towards the cover of the jungle once again and away from the last dangers. Everyone followed with quick, panicked steps.

They hiked an hour, maybe two through the cover of the trees and tons of underbrush before stopping for a complete rest. Jo collapsed against a fallen log and looked out towards the misty swamp, wondering in a premeditative sort of dread what trouble was waiting for them beneath it. 

Jack caught his breath, but he wasted no time in getting to work, looking for wood they could use to build quick, makeshift rafts to get across in.

"Jimmy," Mr. Hayes began, "do a head count. I want to know how many injured and how bad." Jimmy nodded tiredly and stood up straight from where he'd been leaning against a tree.

"Injured?" Lumpy was annoyed as he ripped a piece of cloth into shreds to bandage a deep cut on Choy's arm. "Four of us are dead."

Jo gasped at his words and looked at the tired, beat up faces around her in wonder. Four dead? That was impossible. She searched for the most familiar faces and realized two were missing. Where was Luis? Andrew? A flash of pain shot through her chest, and she doubled over. She rested her head on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Her face had been moist with sweat, but she felt new, hot streams flowing down her face. Her eyes burned with the salt of her tears. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see Hayes, worry obvious in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Ms. Williams?" He took her chin in his hand and turned her head from one side to the other, inspecting the cuts and scrapes.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand, sure she was only spreading the dirt worse. But she nodded. He watched her for a moment, studying as the look in her eyes changed from confusion to pain to grief all in the same moment. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Her lips twisted as she looked towards Jimmy where he was inquiring about Miller's injuries. He followed her gaze and stood, buried deeply now in his own thoughts.

Before then, Baxter had been sitting, staring into the distance, knocking his knees together in a desperate impatience. "We gotta get back to the ship. Englehorn sails in nine hours!" His tone managed to convey his fear and arrogance at the same time.

"So?" The twisted look of grief on Jimmy's face made her heart ache for him. He'd known Luis and Andrew for far longer. "We've gotta find Ms. Darrow."

"Hey, did you hear me?" Bruce ignored the boy as if he had said nothing and looked desperately at Hayes. "We're gonna be stranded here!"

Jo bristled inwardly. She had never traveled much, but she had met a lot of people. She loved to meet new people. All the time. Anyone. Anywhere. She had tons of acquaintances and friends back in London. Still, after all the people she'd ever met, she didn't think she'd met anyone quite as selfish as this man. Except for Marcus, of course. She glared at him, only faintly aware that Jack was glaring at the man just as coldly.

He took on a defensive tone now, gaining the awareness of the reactions his words were creating. "Miss Darrow was a great gal. No question. She was a wonderful person. It's a terrible loss. We're all gonna miss her."

Jo stood suddenly, her cold eyes never leaving the man's face. His gaze bounced to her, and all she saw was Marcus. She'd always wanted to leave two black eyes on that man's face. Before she could act, however, Jack spoke, stealing Baxter's attention. "I always knew you were nothing like the tough guy you play on screen. I just never figured you for a coward."

"Hey, pal. Wake up. Heroes don't look like me, not in the real world. In the real world, they've got bad teeth, a bald spot and a beer gut. Be seeing ya." He turned his back on them and stalked away. Jo balled her hands into fists, as she glared after him. The man was an idiot. He'd never find his way out.

Hayes barely raised an eyebrow at his departure. "Anyone else?"

Jo watched as three other sailors stood, muttering, and followed Baxter. Miller started with surprise when his friend, Billy, joined the group. "You can't be serious, Bill." Jo heard him say in disbelief, as he grabbed his friend's arm.

"I ain't ready to die, Mill." Billy replied defensively. "You might as well come with us." He pulled his arm slowly from Miller's grasp and kept walking leaving his friend looking incredulous and sad.

Miller's eyes found Jo, and he stood suddenly. "Wait!" He yelled after Billy. "Sweetheart," he spoke to Jo now. "Go with them. Get out of here. This ain't no place for a sweet girl like you."

Jo started shaking her head fervently before he had even finished. "No," her voice shook, but she held her ground. "I won't go back without the rest of you."

Miller looked hopeless now and turned to Hayes. "Tell her!" He exclaimed insistently. "She'll listen to you."

Hayes looked indecisive for a moment, but he spoke before Jo could refuse again. "No. She stays with us." His voice was firm. There would be no one contradicting him. Billy looked once more in Miller's direction, hesitated and then turned swiftly and ran after the rest of them. "I don't trust those clowns to keep her safe. The Captain would kill me if I let anything happen to her," Hayes' voice rose in amusement when Jo began glaring at him half heartedly, and he grinned slyly. "Don't look at me like that, child. If I don't take you back in the perfect condition you left in, the Captain'll have my head."

"Shut it!" She growled softly, a blush forming behind the dirt caking her face. There was a nice, long laugh at her expense, and she scowled at them all which only made them laugh the harder. "Yeah?" She snapped at Mr. Hayes. "Well, if that's true, then what do you think is going to happen to you when he sees all these?" She displayed all the cuts and bruises on her arms and face for him to see.

Hayes gave a deep laugh, and his smile seemed to reach his eyes that time. "Trust me when I tell you that I'm not worried about what the Captain's going to do to _me_ when he sees _you_." They all roared in laughter when she paled slightly at his words. She scowled at them again, but she was secretly glad to be given the opportunity to speak about the Captain. She knew it was because she had the worst suspicion that she was never going to see him again. They all seemed to feel it now. Nine hours, the useless actor had said. There was no way they'd find Ann and make it back out in nine hours. The future, Jo knew, was hazy for all of them, so the best thing to do was to make the most of what you had in the present. She, therefore, leapt to her feet with a bright smile.

"Ready to make a boaty, Jacky?!" Jack's quick, sincere smile was all the inspiration she needed to begin digging around their surroundings looking for logs to build rafts with.

Thomas had started out the morning by pacing. And smoking. The last time he'd checked, he had only had three cigarettes left. That number had dwindled to two when he had taken another out a few minutes ago. He had gotten little sleep, for tension in their little camp had been high from fear of the natives returning in full force. Thomas smoked the cigarette until it was so tiny it began burning his lips. He let it drop and stepped on the smoldering ashes. The sound of distant shouts raised his head in alert. The sailors on his side of the wall began shouting as well and rushed to look through the break in the wall. Thomas walked quickly with a controlled pace to the top of the incline that led through the wall and watched as men rushed through the trees and over the bridge. His brows furrowed at their small number of five men, including that blasted actor.

He watched them with narrowed eyes and silence as they ran up to the group and stopped to catch their breaths. There was no need for him to speak or question. The sailors were doing enough of that on their own already. "Where's everyone else?" "Did you find her?" "What happened?" "Where is everyone?"

Thomas waited impatiently as they each began to speak at the same time, out of breath and incoherent. He caught a few words: stampede, dinosaur, dead, but without more context, they simply didn't make sense. Angry now, Thomas approached the actor who seemed to have been leading them and pulled him roughly up by the shoulders. "Where are the rest of my men?" He spoke slowly and dangerously, daring the other to refuse to speak or not answer.

"They- They-" Baxter stopped and took one more deep breath, wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. "They refused to come back. They stayed behind. Said they weren't comin' back 'til they found the dame."

Thomas paused and narrowed his eyes even more. "What are you doing here?"

The actor smiled arrogantly and opened his arms wide, defensively. "Nine hours, you said. Here we are."

It was hard, but Thomas did it. He restrained himself from hitting the man and, instead, gave him a look that plainly said, 'Get out of my sight.' He began to turn towards Billy and the others to discover what had happened, but Baxter spoke again, this time in exasperation. "Look, Englehorn. I know what this looks like, but I didn't come back to save my ass." The withering look Thomas supplied made Baxter grimace. "Okay. Fine, I did. At first. But we've got to go back and get them out of there. We lost too many men and guns to do much more damage in there. We needed back up, and here we are."

Thomas sighed deeply and looked at his watch. "They still have six hours. We give them until tonight to make it back before we go in. Now, tell me what happened since last night." For this, he looked to Billy who was cut off again before he could speak.

"They don't have six hours, Englehorn!" Baxter seemed wary of the gun hanging at the Captain's hip, but he was determined. "Besides the rest of the sailors back there we didn't lose and Hayes, all they've got is a writer, a director, an assistant and a boy."

"Jimmy?" The Captain asked in disbelief, looking towards the men who had stayed as if to find his face. He realized suddenly that he hadn't seen the boy since the night before, before the party had left. He hadn't been paying attention, having been too preoccupied with other thoughts to even realize he was gone.

The actor chuckled softly. "Yeah, the boy pulled a fast one on all of you. And that gir-" He froze, seeming to realize he'd said too much. From the overheard conversations, he'd picked up that the Captain didn't know the girl was gone and that she wasn't supposed to be where she was. He didn't want to be the deliverer of more bad news. The crew members that had arrived with Baxter looked away guiltily, not wanting to meet his eyes.

Englehorn narrowed his eyes once more. "What?!" He snapped, looking towards Billy. "What is it you aren't telling me?!"

Billy cleared her throat. "I told him, Captain. Mr. Hayes, I did. I told him she'd be safer with us."

Englehorn shook his head uncomprehendingly. "What? I don't understand. If you found the woman, then why didn't they come back?"

Baxter and the others were now looking at him with a mixture of pity and guilt, and he saw the understanding as it began to dawn in the eyes of the rest of those who had stayed behind. Thomas' brain, however, was not letting him understand. "Out with it!" He snapped at Billy who was beginning to look sorry he'd ever spoken.

"Just remember, Captain. I did tell him. If he had listened to me, she'd be here now."

Thomas glared, still shaking his head. "What are you say-" He cut himself off, shock paralyzing him as he was: his mouth slightly open to continue speaking, his head turned to one side, and his hand halfway towards his hair. Understanding painfully ripped through him, though he refused to accept what it was telling him. Impossible that- He wouldn't even give a name to his fear. When his head began to swim uncomfortably, he realized he had forgotten to breathe. He took a deep breath and looked directly at Billy. "Please." He almost sounded as if he was begging. "Don't tell me that… Don't tell me she's in there." He pointed with steady fingers that would have been shaking in fear if he'd been a weaker man.

It seemed hard this time for Billy to speak. "She'd be _here_, Sir, like I said, if…" He trailed off, seeming to realize that the Captain was no longer listening to him. They peeled away, all of them, letting him alone to stare in disbelief into the distance. All except for Baxter who was intent on being annoyingly persistent.

"Now, are you ready to rescue them?!" He blurted out.

"Get out of my sight," Thomas said in his thickly accented voice, though he could hear that this last news had left him too weak to insert any venom into his words as he'd meant to. He gave in with a sad sigh full of his thoughts. "Get ready to go back."

Jo swatted Jimmy away and hurried forward, shouldering Jack as good naturedly as possible out of her way. "Ahoy there, Mr. Hayes, sir!" She said excitedly as she nearly ran to keep up with his long strides.

"Ah, the lunatic has come to see me," Mr. Hayes shot Jo a sweet, sideways smile.

"Mr. Hayes," Jo replied bashfully. "Please, stop. You flatter me." She fluttered her eyelashes at him until he laughed.

"May I ask you a question, Ms. Williams?" Mr. Hayes gazed seriously at her now.

"If you must," Jo gave an exaggerated sigh.

"What are you dong here?"

The look on Jo's face sobered almost immediately. "I want to help save Ann," Jo said with a false-sounding conviction.

Mr. Hayes didn't buy it. "That's a good reason, Ms. Williams, but not nearly good enough. The way I figure it, there's only two reasons someone would come on this suicide mission. Either they've got nothing to lose or they're running from something. Now we both know you've got more to lose than the rest of us…" Jo's eyes saw the passing jungle, but all she could see in her mind was Thomas' face. "So, what's got you so scared? What are you running from, child?"

Jo swallowed hard. She considered the answer to his question. Images and memories flew through her head at impossible speeds. She saw her mother, her mother's husband, Marcus, her stuffy room back in London she only knew so well and spent so much time in since she felt no desire to see anyone else, the Venture and the wide and never ending expanse of ocean that meant so many things and at the same time only one. She saw Thomas. It seemed that his face was imprinted permanently on the back of her eyelids and, always, his name balancing dangerously on the edge of her tongue. She had no intention of responding…at least not truthfully, and Mr. Hayes seemed to know it. The look on his face was thoughtful and kind. She spoke before she could stop herself. "What are _you_ running from, Mr. Hayes?"

"What makes you figure I'm running?"

Both their eyes flicked noticeably towards Jimmy, and Jo echoed his earlier words. "We both know you've got as much to lose as I do," she grinned sadly. He mirrored her smile.

Still, he seemed to be contemplating her question seriously. "The same thing most everyone else seems to be running from, I suppose."

She looked his way with authentic curiosity. "And what's that?"

"The past," he paused a moment, "the future." The tiniest bit of uncertainty seemed to color his words.

"What's he running from, Mr. Hayes?" The words 'the Captain' were so deeply implied that Jo knew she didn't have to speak them.

Mr. Hayes cleared his throat, giving Jo another quick glance. "The way I figure it is a man's past is his own to tell." His face held a bemused smile, as if had given her the answer, though she might not realize it.

Jo renovated her question completely. "But," she paused, "could it be that someone can be running towards the same thing they're running from?"

He looked slyly at her with a sideways glance. "Isn't that always the case?" He retorted with a grin.

"You tell me," she replied, the shadow of her old smile lingering around her thoughtful face as she stared off into the distance.

"I know what you're thinking," He told her suddenly, interrupting her thoughts

She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "You do, do you?"

He smiled, almost the way a child would when caught. "Well, I think I do."

Her eyebrow rose higher.

"It doesn't make you a coward. To run from what you're scared of." He didn't meet her eyes this time, choosing instead to stare off into the jungle. "Sometimes, even, it's the bravest thing a man can do."

"What _does_ make someone a coward?" She asked inquiringly.

He paused for a moment, deeply in thought, then spoke decidedly. "To never stop. To never stop and face what you're running from. You see, people got time. They can run for their entire lives if they have to. But there comes a point where they have to stop. They have to stop and turn around and face it."

"And if you don't…" She paused. "If you don't, _that_ makes someone a coward?"

He grinned uncertainly. "I can't speak for everyone, I guess, Ms. Williams, but, in my book, yes, that makes someone a coward. If you spend your entire life running, pretending you're not, then I figure that you never really get the chance to live. Sometimes, you've got to be afraid. Sometimes, you've got to face the things that scare you the most or else you're just lying to yourself."

As his voice dwindled into silence, Mr. Hayes began to slow his pace as well. He placed a hand in front of Jo to stop her and walked a few feet further himself. Ahead of them, a fallen tree stretched over a wide valley. They approached the edge cautiously. Hayes leapt nimbly to the top of the log and bounced for a few seconds, testing the tree's strength. He turned and nodded, gesturing to Jo to give him her hand. She placed her hand trustingly in his and let him pull her up behind him.

"Watch your footing," he smiled at her warningly. Making sure Jimmy had clambered up behind her, Jo cautiously made her way across the log behind Hayes. They all stopped short at a loud, echoing noise from within the cave ahead. Seeing the way Mr. Hayes tensed, Jo realized what a precarious position they were in now, dangling hundreds of feet above a rocky and unforgiving valley. One arm behind him holding her and Jimmy back, Mr. Hayes inched forward, his gun stretched before him.

Jo barely heard the short exchange between Hayes and Jimmy as the familiar feeling of fear overtook her senses. She clutched Jimmy's arm tightly when he made to move forward. Jack placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. They were frozen in place when Mr. Hayes was torn from the ground by the humongous primate that, by all rights, shouldn't exist. Jimmy's reaction was opposite to Jo's. Her hold on him grew slack so that Jack had to use all his strength to hold him back. Her knees weak, she watched in horror as Hayes attempted to shoot the animal between its eyes. She would have closed her eyes if she'd had any control whatsoever left over her basic motor senses. Nevertheless, she felt his shadow fly over her, and her knees gave out. Her brain didn't seem to grasp why her heart was wrenching in place. Mercifully enough, she had time to get a good hold on the log before the creature began dislodging it from the ground. The rest was 

a blur of fear and noises. She felt her heart climb its way up her windpipe when the log fell freely downwards before it caught on the narrower edges of the sheer cliffs. Later, she remembered watching Lumpy struggling to hold on to Choy. She remembered crawling forward to help, stretching her hand forward to grasp his, and watching as gravity dragged him helplessly towards the valley below. At that point, Jack had snatched onto the back of her coat, accidentally grasping a handful of her hair painfully. But it was almost as if she couldn't feel the pain. The shock was too strong for that.

Still, she knew that if she didn't keep her wits about her, she'd end up plummeting to the abyss below. If she wanted to survive, she would have to take a deep breath. She began to do just this when the air was stolen away from her with another displacement of the log. It caught again, but the ground was closer now. She saw the rest of the survivors fall to the ground below. Her nails dug into the rotting wood, she managed to hold on. She clutched tightly to the log and watched as Jimmy landed roughly directly below her, Jack not too far off. She was scared to let her eyes drift too far in case she saw something that might make her lose her head. Resting her head tiredly down, she closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, she was waking up to the sounds of shouting and gunfire. Somehow, against all odds, she'd managed to doze off for a few minutes. Seeing the scene below her, however, she almost wished she hadn't woken up quite just yet. The bugs were huge. Bigger than any of the other insects they'd encountered on the island so far. One was climbing Jack's torso toward his face. Jo turned her face away in disgust only to see Lumpy being consumed by water-dwelling monstrosities.

"No!" She finally reacted, clambering to her knees.

"Jo!" She heard Jimmy shout. "Watch out!" She turned swiftly to see the massive scorpion lifting its enormous stinger to paralyze her. A second was all she had. A second was what saved her. She rolled to the side and saw with wide eyes as the sharp needle sent an explosion of splinters flying into the air from the wood where she'd been a second earlier.

Unwilling to take another chance, she kept rolling and felt herself falling once again. "Oomph!" Jimmy had attempted to catch her and though he was usually strong enough to carry her if necessary, he had forgotten this time to factor in the force of gravity and the speed she'd be falling at. They fell to the moist, dirt floor together and nearly immediately were back on their feet. Jimmy wielded the Tommy at the approaching insects. He shoved Jo roughly behind him as he pulled the trigger. Feeling a peculiar itching on the back of her neck, Jo turned with dread to see a horrid sight meet her eyes: a humongous cockroach was inspecting her with its feelers. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out and, without thinking, she was pushing Jimmy roughly forwards. He managed not to trip, but he was the lucky one.

When Jimmy hauled her back to her feet, she was armed with a four foot long stick, thorny branches included. While Jimmy used the last of his ammunition to get the bugs off Jack, Jo brandished the stick in an attempt to frighten the roach off. It retreated a few feet but continued 

to follow her as she left the safety of Jimmy's defense to find Lumpy. But she was too late. In an unspeakable horror, she watched as the watery worms dragged him beneath the surface. Something heavy landed on her, knocking her to her face. The stick was trapped between the ground and her body, poking her painfully. She wouldn't be without bruises if she survived this ordeal, she thought. A moment later, she heard a burst of gun shots and then two or three clicks indicating the gun was out this time. Simultaneously, she felt gooey liquid splatter the back of her head and hands. The weight was gone and Jack's hands were dragging her to her feet. She saw the remains of a colossal spider scattered around the area, as he retreated backwards to the rest of the survivors. They gathered in a cluster watching in helpless horror as the triumphant insects stalked towards them.


	15. Retrouver

**Bonjour my fellow writer/reviewers! Thank you to everyone for readin' and appreciatin'! I hope this update didn't take as long to do as the last, and I am grateful for everyone's who's stuck around despite my latecoming flaws... Does that make any sense? Probably not. Then again, I've not been having the right amount of sleep lately. 20 units will do that to a person (Yes, I am bragging. Yes, I believe the said 20 units give me the right.). :-) Please review! Merci beaucoup mes cheres!**

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_A/N added 1/31/2010_**: **_Edited version of the original version. Little differences, main one being that Jo and Thomas refrain from kissing. I thought it was a little out of character for the both of them to be so…mushy. Ha. Thanks for sticking around, everyone who has so far, I know I haven't made it easy what with taking over a year to finally update and everything, but this is my brain child and I still love it to pieces._

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**Retrouver**

Jo let out a choked and dry sob, as she crossed her arms, rubbing her skin, as if trying to remove it. It might have been the most absurd thing to think for the time and situation she was in, but she couldn't help it. She wished she could, like a snake, shed the skin she was currently in. Maybe, she thought, it would be like getting rid of everything she'd been through, as if none of it had ever happened. She trembled. She could still feel them crawling up her body, their legs tickling her skin. She shuddered and, though she'd put nothing in her stomach the last day and a half, she felt sick. Hoping it would help to look up, she did so and nearly gagged. Mr. Hayes' body was sprawled lifelessly across a large stone. She turned and nearly screamed as Jack came up at her. He said nothing but wrapped his arm strongly around her shoulder and pulled her alongside him towards the cliff's face. Feeling weak, she let him.

"Come on, sweetheart. Hurry up now." He grasped the rope that had been lowered from above and clasped it inside Jo's fist. She clung to it weakly and looked up. From where she was and how she felt, it seemed an impossible climb. "Let's go, sweetheart." Jack said softly, giving her a boost. Jo reached one jelly-feeling arm up and began to pull herself up with Jack's help from below.

Suddenly, Jack yelled out and let go. Jo had not gotten a good grip and fell on her bottom to the hard ground below which is where she saw the source of Jack's outburst. It was huge, it was slimy and it had well over twenty legs. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but nothing came out. Without stopping to let her bottom absorb its pain, she crawled backwards with her hands, pushing against the wall with her feet to get as much distance as possible between her and the terrifying bug as quickly as possible. But suddenly the bug had exploded into flying globs of jelly-like blood and squirming legs. She turned her face to avoid getting blood on her skin and just ended up being sick on the floor. She felt Jack hoist her up again. This time she grasped the rope with purpose and began pulling herself towards the cliff's edge. It was by the time she was at least fifteen feet skywards that she realized how far up she already was, but she resolved not to look down. Her arms burned terribly, and sweat began to drip down her face and mingled with the tears. She wiped her face roughly against her dirty arm. As she was resting her feet flat against the wall, another bug came from a large crack near her and started crawling towards her, its pincers ready to devour her. This time the scream erupted powerfully from her lungs. Suddenly, she was jerked upwards, nearly losing her grip. Once she had adjusted her hands, she looked up to see her savior and wasn't at all surprised. Maybe she had expected it. And she had more than hoped. She only considered for a moment sliding back down in order to avoid getting in trouble. Otherwise, she could already feel his strong, warm arms around her. Very soon she was flying past the cliff's edge and her feet were suddenly touching the floor, which, a moment later, was coming towards her. She heard a string of German curses and couldn't help but smile.

She had a moment to rest her face straight down into the cool ground, savoring the feeling of solidness beneath her and feeling of safety around her before her favorite pair of hands in the world pulled her to her feet and held onto her when she nearly toppled over again. His eyes searched her face frantically and the look within them told her that he thought he was dreaming and that she wasn't really there. She waited for the fear of being discovered and chided, but it never came. An overwhelming rush of emotions overcame her, and she collapsed clumsily into his embrace. Until she was pressed tightly against him, her face buried in his neck, she hadn't noticed that she was trembling from head to foot. She was slick with sweat, her clothes soaked in it. He held her against him gently and stroked her matted hair, murmuring comforting nonsense to her over and over in German when she began to sob. The tears threw him off, diminishing his rage at actually finding her into a sliver of anger that soon disappeared. He'd been harboring a hope that Baxter was wrong. Now he was simply worried about the trauma Jo had been exposed to thanks to the ordeals she must have gone through. When he asked what was wrong, she merely shook her head from side to side.

She soon calmed down enough to simply state that she'd never been happier in her life to see anyone, in garbled German. He released his hold on her arms, so he could hurry her away towards safety, away from the sorrows if he could. But as soon as he let go, her knees buckled and she began to fall towards the ground. He caught her swiftly, one arm around her back. She clutched his coat with her fist as if to hold herself up and smiled up at him. "Always my hero," she said in German, though her tone was sad.

"What's wrong, Jo?" he asked, truly alarmed, also in German.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Just give me a moment. I'll be fine. I'm just a little dizzy is all."

For the first time, he noticed how tired she looked, the deep, dark circles under her eyes and pale face. "You haven't slept, have you, little monkey?"

"Don't worry about me. Let's go. Jimmy. We have to make sure he's alright."

He smiled grimly and used one hand to whip his coat off, then enveloped Jo in it. She closed her eyes and let out a satisfied moan. A moment later, he had gathered her up effortlessly into his arms. He was happy she didn't protest. Instead, she rested her hands limply against her chest and curled in towards his, nuzzling his shirt with her face as he adjusted her in his arms to make her comfortable. A few moments later, he heard her soft snoring. He rested his forehead tenderly against hers and hoped, for her sake, they would make it safely through the harsh jungle. He turned and walked as fast as he could after his men without waking Jo.

* * *

Safety, or at least a safer environment than where they'd been traveling for the past few hours, was in visual distance. Jo had gone as far as violence to get Thomas to put her down. Her legs had been shaky at first, and Thomas had insisted on supporting her for at least a mile or at least until she showed him she could run. Which she did. From him. Until she realized she missed him and rushed back, grabbing his hand in both of hers. She didn't let go of him again. With a rush of relief, Thomas spotted the bridge. He pulled Jo along, but she pulled back. He turned to see what antics she was up to now. He gave a start when he saw how sick she looked now compared to how she had looked ten minutes ago. Her face was pale with a green tinge to it. And that's when she suddenly began to shake violently. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground. Her hand was torn from his grasp, and she began to twitch violently where she lay. He fell hard on his knees next to her but dared not touch her, so unpredictable seemed her seizure. He shouted her name once but desisted on getting no response and upon remembering where he was. When her trembling slowed, he scooped her to his chest, clutching her chin in his hands. Her eyes continued to roll back in her head. He was frightened to lift her from the ground completely, but he had no choice. He picked her up, and she shook the entire way as he sprinted across the muddy jungle floor. It was as he was halfway across the bridge that she stopped shaking. He realized this made him a thousand times more afraid than the shaking. He crossed under the arch and finally relaxed a fraction enough to lower Jo to the ground.

The very first thing he did was check her pulse. If he'd been the crying kind of person, he might have done so right there in relief. Instead he cursed explicitly in German to express his relief. He took her face in his hands and was surprised to feel how hot it was. Her temperature had risen drastically. "Jo," he called her name softly. "Come back to me, my little monkey." She stirred, groggily opening her eyes, which were now bloodshot. Her gaze was disoriented. She closed her eyes again and let out a pained groan. "Talk to me." He spoke softly.

Most of the sailors were resting now. Pom and Unger approached quickly when they noticed their captain and Jo. "What is it, Captain?" Pom exclaimed.

"What's wrong with her?" Unger asked. Both their voices were strained, stressed.

"I do not know. She is unconscious. We need to get her off this blasted island immediately."

"The boats are waitin', Capn'," Pom said, furrowing his brow down at Jo.

The Captain nodded, not needing to look up to know the director was watching him, waiting. He had him. He had him, and he knew it. Funds were low back in New York. Denham knew he would be desperate for money after this fiasco, as he had not much of it himself. Not only did his ship need repairs desperately, but it seemed Jo was going to need medical attention as well. The ape was the only way he was going to make quick money. There was no way around it and, at this point, Thomas didn't care. He would do whatever he had to in order to make Jo well again. He did feel sorrow for losing his ship mates. Hayes had been an old friend, but Thomas had never been big on emotion, and it wasn't the time to start. Still…he could live through losing the others, but he wasn't sure he could survive losing Jo. There had come into his life when she had entered it once again a reason to truly be happy. He hadn't exactly been unhappy before, but there had always seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over him that he could never really explain. Since the night they had left London, when the crazy woman lying motionlessly now in his arms had come into his cabin demanding he let her kill herself, before he had even know who Jo was. Maybe he had not noticed it until now, but she made him so incredibly happy, even if he didn't always show it, even when she made him cross. And it wasn't until he could no longer let her know that he realized how much he needed her now that she was back.

Thomas stood again, cradling Jo even more gently in his arms than before. He looked directly at Denham so fiercely that the director almost looked away until he saw Thomas nod grimly. As he walked the uneven, rocky ground to take Jo back to the ship, Thomas realized he would have to return once more. He looked down at Jo. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her alone again, but, he thought, if he wanted to save her, it really was the only way.

* * *

The task was done and, fortunately, not one more life had been lost. Thomas had done his duty, and the Venture was on her way. At his orders, they would be stopping at the first place they could find medical care. For the past hour, he'd been poring through maps, trying to figure out where that would be. He had contacts all through Asia and Africa, at least on the coasts. He had stopped to tell Unger where they were headed, but from there, nothing could stop him going to see Jo. As he was striding down the hall towards her room, Ariana was just coming out. Her furrowed brow sped up his step. He didn't have to speak. The look on his face asked the questions for him.

"She keeps coming in and out of consciousness, but her pulse is normal enough. She's burning up though. The quicker we get her on land, the better."

He nodded. "Has she said anything? Does she want anything? Water? Is she in pain?"

"I don't think so, sir. She didn't ask for water, but she did speak. She's only asking for you, sir." Thomas looked away from her now, looking longingly at the door. "I'm getting her water anyway," Ariana stated, holding a pitcher up he hadn't seen before. He nodded absently, and despite the situation, she smiled at his disinterest in anything but getting to Jo. She moved out of his way, and he thanked her and walked quietly into the room. She stood there for a few moments and watched as he kneeled next to the bed and took her hands, which lay limply at her sides. She watched for a few moments as he looked adoringly at the girl, kissed her palm and wiped her hair away from her sweaty face. Ariana shook her head, smiling, and walked away.

Back inside the room, Thomas' mind was traveling millions of miles per hour. He needed to do something to help this girl, this precious woman who had helped him. She had no idea, but she had saved him…from himself, from the world, from having to live without reason to. The things he had seen, the things he had done…they would never leave him, not the pain he'd gone through, not the pain he'd caused. And, still, after all of it, Thomas was so grateful that she accepted him, that she trusted him enough to slip her small, warm hand into his larger one. It was always this thought that ran fear straight through him like a thunder bolt. He was terrified within that she would reject him if she knew all that he'd done. He wasn't the person she thought he was, and that thought killed him. He wanted her to love him, but he wanted her to know who he truly was at the same time. She stirred as he thought deeply. He gazed at her, and she finally opened her eyes. Though she looked sick and miserable and (Ariana hadn't know what she was talking about) in pain, despite all that, her eyes lit up brightly upon seeing him.

"What are you looking at, monkey brains?" She whispered coherently enough in German.

"The most beautiful girl in the whole world," he replied with a sad smile.

Her body shook, but her smile told him, that it'd been from an attempt to laugh. "How many times have I told you to call me a boy?" She managed.

He laughed loudly, and the smile on her face grew until it became a grimace. That's when Thomas noticed she was shivering, something he hadn't noticed before because her skin was so hot. "What's wrong?" He asked, caressing her cheek with a finger.

"It's so cold," she groaned softly. "Aren't you cold, Thomas?" He was worried now more so than before.

"I am, my little worm, only what you are and whatever you want me to be." She closed her eyes tiredly but when she opened them, a tear was rolling down her cheek. He leaned up, feeling the warmth of her breath and skin, and wiped the lone tear away. Weakly, she grabbed his chin in the hand he wasn't holding.

"There is only one thing I need you to be, that I want you to be."

"And what is that?" He looked down as he spoke.

"Here with me," she whispered.

"Always," he whispered back. He worried when her hand fell limply from his face.

"I'm cold, Thomas." He looked into her eyes. She wasn't lying. However hot she was outside, her body was freezing her from within. Without another word, without letting go of her hand, Thomas stood, kicked off his shoes, lifted the pile of blankets away and climbed in beside her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and, with a satisfied moan, she angled her body to cuddle in towards him completely. He buried his face in her hair. It smelled of sweat and blood and dirt, and he closed his eyes to think of what she must have gone through in there to have reacted the way she did when he found her. After a few minutes, it was stifling hot for Thomas, but when he asked Jo, "Better?" she nodded in contentment. He sighed in relief when she stopped shivering and rested his head on hers when he felt her taking the long, deep breaths that meant she was asleep. Soon, he fell asleep as well.

More than an hour later, Ariana came in with the water and smiled at the sight. A dish clattered when she set the pitcher down, and she heard a rustle of blankets. She turned to see Thomas sliding his arms out from under Jo and sitting up. Almost instantly, she began to tremble slightly.

"Thomas," she groaned.

"I'm here, my little worm," he said in German. He gestured gently for some water. Ariana poured a glass of the cool water quickly and handed it to him. "Jo. Drink some water for me." He said in his preferred language. He helped her sit up part ways but stopped when she moaned in pain. He put the glass to her lips, and she made an effort to drink but most of what came out of the glass only sloshed onto the blanket. He let her back down to the bed gently where she dropped back in to an uneasy sleep. Thomas stood and put his boots back on.

"I must check on our progress," he said in an absent tone, looking regretfully back at Jo.

"Sir," Ariana muttered shyly before he could leave. He turned questioningly. She toyed with an empty cup made of wood. "If I may implore you, Captain, don't let Ms. Williams marry that man Marcus. Please." She added almost as if as an afterthought.

"What-" he began, before continuing. "I have no control over who Ms. Williams is going to marry." He knew this to be untrue, and apparently, so did Ariana whose quick smile she was unable to control.

"Begging your pardon, Captain, but I think you and I both know that's not true at all. I'm just naming a thought here, sir. Jo is devilishly adamant she won't marry at all, but that isn't true either, and I was simply thinking that if Jo were to marry anyone, well, she shouldn't, not unless it was you. You didn't know her before this, Captain, and I don't know how you both met or got this close, and I'm not asking, but she's never been this happy, Captain, not since I met her. I've seen how she's changed since last week. She's always been a smiler and a laugher, but it comes easier to her now. She's been sleeping really well. I'm not sure she can go back to living the way she was before this."

Thomas was silent. He wasn't sure what to say. His throat was dry at the thought of separating from Jo once they got back to civilization. He didn't believe he could live without Jo after this either, and he wanted to say as much, but on the danger of his throat clenching tighter, he merely nodded. Just as he put his foot out the door, he looked up to see Jimmy running around the corner, a stricken look etched deeply into his face. "Where is she?" Jimmy asked in a panicked, angry voice. "What did you do to her now?" Thomas stopped in the doorway.

"She's not well, Jimmy. She needs silence and rest." He replied in a quiet voice.

Rage shone bright in Jimmy's eyes and he ran head long at the Captain and though his intent was strong, Jimmy was too light to do anything other than make the captain adjust his footing. Thomas raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "Jimmy, not now, not while you're like this. I won't allow it."

Jimmy began to hit Thomas on the chest with his fists. "You can't keep her from me. She's not yours. She's mine. You can't have her. Leave her alone. You did this to her." The hits on his chest hurt him and Thomas made a move to grab the boy's hands. He managed to contain the fighting boy until they were out on deck. Jimmy kicked and punched at him for a few moments longer. Suddenly, the fight seemed to go out of him, and he slumped over Thomas' arm. Just as Thomas was getting ready to set Jimmy on the deck gently, the boy began to shake. His movements were eerily similar to Jo's symptoms earlier. "Jimmy?" In alarm, he sat the boy on the deck against the wall and held his head up by his chin. The boy's eyes rolled around in his head, and he groaned in pain.

Thomas cursed and shouted out for help. The nightmare never seemed to be over. Every time that things seemed to be going back to normal, the world had to sweep right in again and turn itself upside down.

* * *

**FYI: 'Retrouver' is French for "to meet again." I have a book recommendation as well. Read "The Book Thief," people. It'll be good for your soul.**


	16. Part II: Awake

**One day, a little kitten named Hamburger Phone woke up and realized she had blue fur and no eyebrows. The end. An update, yay! Now, I must read, enjoy and review. That is my directive. It is also yours. Also, watch Wall-E. We must go green. The end. For real this time.**

_Waking up from a long, much needed sleep is like rediscovering the world in a different way, better than they way in which you discovered it the first time. Nothing that may have happened before need matter, it need not be important or remembered._

* * *

The voices were loud, one of them harsh sounding, the other familiar, but Jo ignored them. She was unexplainably happy. She was warm and cozy and well rested. She was not interested in moving any one of her lazy muscles. There was a spicy, warm smell in the air she'd never smelled before, and she breathed it in deeply. She rubbed her head lazily and finally looked up to see where the voices were coming from. A familiar form stood outside the window, and Jo nearly cried out with joy until she decided she would rather surprise him. She looked at the other man. He was short with dark hair and eyes, unfamiliar. They were both speaking in German, and Jo stopped to listen to their conversation.

"She's sturdy and strong," Thomas was saying. "She's a bit beat up, but it is not anything a good wash won't take care of. She's young enough as well, so she'll last you awhile."

Jo's brow furrowed. _What on earth is he talking about, _she thought.

"Well, I'll take her, I suppose." The man replied. So he was the one with the harsh voice she had heard speaking earlier. "You'll have to lower the price though. She's been just settled here for too long." The man said, gesturing Jo's way.

Her mouth dropped open in angry shock when she thought she realized she knew what they were haggling about. She let out a shout of indignation and their voices ceased. Realizing her mistake, Jo rolled out of bed. Falling hard to her knees, she cursed and crawled forwards on her pained knees to lock whatever door she was being kept behind in preparation for sale. She stood unevenly and, a moment later, the doorknob rattled.

"Jo!" Thomas exclaimed. He sounded shaken.

"Go away, you filthy merchant!" She shouted.

"What in the world-" He exclaimed. "What is going on now?" He added loudly.

"Look, Thomas. I don't know who you think you are, but you don't own me. You can't simply sell me when you seek fit to be rid of me!"

He cursed in German as per usual. "What in the bloody hell are you talking about, you lunatic?!" A smile tugged hard at her lips, but she resisted on remembering she was mad at him.

"Well now you're going to talk to me like I'm stupid. I know a sale when I see it," she yelled.

"What-" Thomas started again, stopping himself. Suddenly, she heard him burst out into loud, wild laughter. She couldn't help but smile because every bad feeling, all Thomas' problems seemed to flow out of him in that outburst and he sounded light and happy and carefree. "You godamned lunatic!" He yelled through the thin wood of the door in English. "You really have lost it this time." He was speaking short of breath, his laughter having apparently taken much of the energy out of him. "I'm not selling you." He finally clarified. "I'm selling the Venture."

Jo blinked. "Oh," she said softly. "I thought because-" she began defensively.

"Jo," Thomas breathed her name softly, and she heard it so clearly, his lips must have been right at the crease of the door. "It does not matter. I just want to see you."

"And you aren't planning on selling me?" She wanted to make sure.

"_Nein_," he whispered.

"And you don't want to be rid of me?"

"Never," he said even lower in German.

"Oh," she said softly too.

And a large smile was suddenly stretching widely across her face. She fumbled with the lock and threw the door open, which is when she heard another loud German curse. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Thomas had stumbled backwards and was clutching one hand to his nose. The sight of him made her forget everything else though, and she ran at him and leaped into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards even further. She wrapped her legs around his torso, and he grabbed her under her thighs to keep her from falling. Her nightgown rode up, baring most of her legs, and something low in his stomach jumped as he realized how far up her legs he was holding onto. She kissed him full on the mouth and then the tip of his nose which had turned red quickly from the door. She kissed his neck and finally rested her head upon his shoulder.

"She's a live one," someone muttered in German from behind them, making Jo start. She had forgotten about the other man, the one she thought wanted her to be his slave. He obviously didn't realize she spoke German. Turning in Thomas' arms to look at him, the first thing she noticed was his eyes traveling up her body. Thomas seemed to notice too, for he set her down gently, smoothed her dress down for her and herded her back into the room.

"I'm very glad to see you," he whispered softly from behind her. Once inside the room, she turned, grasped his hand and kissed the tips of his fingers softly. He watched her with soft eyes but his head turned at the sudden sound of the other man's call of "Englehorn!" He caressed her cheek once with the back of his hand, then turned and strode swiftly out the door. "Ajai!" He called out. A woman called back something in a different language, and to Jo's utmost surprise, Thomas responded something unintelligible in the same language. She waited with a furrowed brow until a woman entered the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Hello!" Jo exclaimed, friendly as ever.

"Hello, memsahib." She said quietly before beginning to glide around the room, opening drawers and peeking behind the beaded curtains of the closet. Jo backed up to sit on the bed and watched her in curiosity. The woman had dark brown skin and lovely black eyes framed with long dark lashes. Her long ebony hair lay plaited down her back and moved gracefully with her. She wore what Jo knew as a sari in bright colors of red and orange. She was foreign and unfamiliar, and Jo didn't think she'd ever seen anyone quite as beautiful. At least not a woman so beautiful, since, in Jo's mind, there was no one more beautiful than Thomas, but she was not sure she would ever admit that to him out loud. "Would you care to bathe before dressing, Memsahib?" The woman asked with a noticeable accent.

"You can call me Jo," she said with a smile.

The woman gave a smile back, but it never reached her eyes. She wasn't being rude. There just seemed to be a sadness deep within her that might never go away. "Jo it is. Would you care to bathe?" Jo looked down at herself quickly.

"Why am I so clean already?" She asked, puzzled.

"I could not just let you alone and dirty." The woman commented.

"I just want to go back out there," Jo finally said, longingly.

The woman nodded understandingly and approached her with a colored bundle gathered in her arms. She let the folds of fabric unravel. Not able to help herself, Jo ran her fingers down the smooth silk, watching as the bright blue and purple interwove within each other. "It's beautiful," Jo whispered.

"Thank you," Ajai replied with a smile.

"You made this?" Jo asked curiously.

"I did. This one as well," she said, fingering her own.

"You're an artist." Jo continued to admire the pattered beads sewn along the hem.

"Turn around please, Memsahib." Without correcting Ajai again, Jo complied and let Ajai go through what seemed to her the complicated process of wrapping the sari around her. Then her hair came down, and Ajai was using a brush to plait Jo's shoulder-length hair in the same manner as her own. She then took the last hanging piece of the sari and folded it over Jo's hair. "This sun will ruin your beautiful skin," Ajai murmured.

"It doesn't matter," Jo muttered, but she left the hood as it was.

"Would you like to see you friend now?" Ajai asked softly, and Jo nodded fervently. Ajai took Jo's hand gently and led her out. And Jo finally got a look at their surroundings.

They seemed to be in a large garden setting filled with little bamboo huts that matched the one Jo had just exited. This clearing was lush with vegetation grounded in a deep brown dirt around each hut and was surrounded by tall, sweet smelling trees. Jo gazed around in awe. Birds sang cheerily above, and even the dry-like heat could not bring Jo down. "Where are we?" Jo asked in wonder.

"You do not know, Memsahib?" Ajai asked.

Before Jo could answer, a door slammed softly in the distance. Jo turned and saw Thomas' silhouette in one of the shaded huts. A second later, she had pulled her hand from Ajai's grasp and was rushing barefoot across the cool mud, past large foreign flower bushes and had opened the door. He started at the sight of her at first. His eyes met hers warmly and something charged passed between them. Jo noticed his eyes traveling slowly, discreetly down her form, but it didn't make her skin crawl the way the other man's eyes had. On the contrary, she reveled in his look, and her belly began to burn with a pleasant fire and a dark pink blush fought its way onto her face. She found she felt shy and no longer wished to meet his eyes or do something ridiculous.

"Très belle," he murmured. And Jo watched him curiously with her doeish eyes. "Although God knows my language is beautiful, I don't think anyone can speak of beauty quite as well as the French." He seemed to be responding to her curious stare.

"That may be so," she returned, "but I don't think they know how to make beauty quite as well as the Indians," she said, running her hands down the sides of her silk sari.

"So, Ajai has told you where we are?" He chuckled.

"No. She forgot to mention it." She shrugged dismissively. "I figured it out."

"Of course you did," he said softly. "Yes, the Indians are crafters of beauty," he acknowledged. "But they've nothing on God." His searching eyes made her forehead redder now.

"Yes," she confirmed. "He did particularly well on Ajai." Jo said, trying not to and failing from keeping that slight, unavoidable note of jealousy from creeping into her voice.

"That may be so," he echoed," but He never made anyone quite as beautiful, inside and out, as a certain monkey I know."

Jo's breath caught at the husky tone of his voice, the hungry shade in his eyes. "He made you," she said so quietly, she was not quite sure he'd heard her. It only took him a second to move towards her and suddenly his mouth was on hers. She kissed back with the same intensity. Her belly ached with the pleasing warmth he was releasing within her. He was pressing so hard against her that he was soon pushing her back against the wall. She moaned in that aching pleasure and opened her mouth, so their tongues melted together like butter. His hands were all over her, crumpling the beautiful silk into folds. She felt she would die of the ache in her stomach if something of monumental proportions did not occur and soon. A growl erupted from deep within Jo's throat when Thomas suddenly pulled away, leaving Jo feeling cold and dissatisfied. She wanted to lunge at him and steal his lips again. But she stopped herself when she realized why Thomas was now standing two feet from her, breathing hard and looking at the door in annoyance where the same man from before was standing, watching as Jo smoothed her sari down, adjusted the hood and put her cool hands to her hot face.

His eyes snapped back to Thomas when he cleared his throat. "I don't have all day, Englehorn."

Jo remained frustrated, but another thought had been nagging at the back of her brain for the past half hour. "You can't sell her, Thomas," Jo blurted out. His eyes snapped to hers. "You can't," she repeated.

The man scoffed. "My dear, you can't presume to tell the man what to do. What does a woman know of these matters anyhow?" Quick as a flash, Thomas had grasped Jo around the waist tightly, anticipating what she was going to do before the man could even blink.

"Watch you tongue sir! I've harmed friends for less than that!" The man took a step back at the wild look in her eyes as she stood within Thomas' grasp before narrowing his own, but she spoke again before he could. "And you will keep your eyes to yourself from now on if you wish to keep them at all."

"You need to learn how to control your woman, Englehorn," the man said coldly.

Again, before Thomas could reply, Jo retorted with a growling sort of tone. "I belong to no one but myself, sir. You'll do well to remember that," she snapped.

The man's eyes snapped to Englehorn searchingly. Thomas shrugged at his bewildered look, trying to suppress his laughter. "She's a mind of her own. A live one." Thomas murmured sarcastically, a smile tugging hard at his lips, as he mocked the man's own words.

The man's eyes flashed angrily. "Don't forget that you owe me, Englehorn. That ship's as good as mine. I'm not to be trifled with."

Englehorn tensed behind Jo. "Do not threaten me in my own domain, Derek. You will be paid back soon enough. In the meantime, I think it best that you leave before I release 'my woman'." His tightened grip, however, belied his words.

The man's lips twisted into a scowl. With one last withering look at Jo, he strode from the room, letting the door slam.

"I don't like your friend, Thomas." She said in a tone of annoyance.

Thomas chuckled. "Luckily, he's not my friend. But I shall have to tell the ones I do have to take care around you."

"I'll behave as long as they do," Jo muttered rebelliously, drawing another chuckle from Thomas. It took a moment, but Jo finally registered that his arm was still tight around her waist. He seemed to notice too but, instead of doing what Jo desperately wished him to and drawing her in so close there would be nothing between them, he released her, stood back and adjusted his coat.

"Aren't you hungry?" He asked.

"Yes," her eyes unexplainably flashing.

"Come. Ajai has set up breakfast." He reached for her hand and began to walk towards the door but she resisted. He turned to see the gleam from before back in her eyes.

"You didn't ask what I was hungry for," she said in a low, husky tone.

Before Thomas could think up an appropriate response, there came a quiet knock at the door. "Breakfast, Sahib," she called softly.

"Coming, Ajai," Thomas replied, his voice nearly cracking with the control he was asserting to break his gaze free. This time, Jo let herself be pulled along. She expected from Ajai a curious look, but she got instead an amused smile. Thomas led her to another of the little huts and ushered her through the screen door. The smell was unfamiliar but mouthwatering, and her stomach finally revealed its hunger with a resounding growl. The table was low to the ground but stacked with fresh food. Plush silk cushions surrounded it and scarves were draped overhead, giving the room a foreign and lovely quality. She sank to her knees on one of the cushions and reached, without asking, for a hot, crispy bread. As she bit into it, she closed her eyes in pleasure. Just as Thomas sank down next to her, a loud moan that sounded an awful lot like "Joooooo…" echoed seemingly from a neighboring hut. Jo's brow furrowed. That voice sounded so familiar. The bunch of grapes Jo had gathered in her hands fell, her eyes finding Thomas' quickly.

"Is that-" She exclaimed. A slight nod of the head told Jo all she needed to know, and her face broke into a wide smile. "Jimmy!" She called, bouncing happily to her feet.

"Wait, Jo," Thomas said softly in German, standing also and putting a hand on her arm. "I wanted you to eat before you began to worry."

She turned swiftly. "What is it?" She asked, alarmed.

"Jimmy came down with the same illness as you not long after we left the island," he said slowly, watching as Jo's face fell as he spoke.

"Where is he?" She finally asked

"Ajai." Thomas followed this with words in a tongue Jo did not speak or understand, and she watched his beautiful mouth as he spoke and even though she wanted those lips on hers, at the moment, she simply wanted to see her friend-turned-brother more. "Go with Ajai," he said quietly. There was a look in his eyes she did not recognize, but it also somehow told her not to ask why he wasn't accompanying her.

As she followed Ajai back through the garden-like trail, she realized something. "That's who you were talking about earlier, isn't it?" she asked. "Jimmy? When you said 'my friend,'"

"Yes," Ajai replied. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

Jo shook her head gravely. "Is he-" Jo began, stopping herself.

"He will be fine, I am sure." Ajai reassured her. "He must simply heal as you did. It's just taking longer."

"Yes," Jo's brow furrowed, "that is what worries me."

Ajai opened the screen door to another hut. The sudden darkness was blinding, but Jo's eyes soon adjusted. She saw Jimmy's long, lanky form on the bed against the far wall and rushed to sit at the edge next to him, nearly tripping over the folds of her sari in the process. "Oh, Ms. Alice," she sighed sadly, placing her cool hands on his sweating form. He didn't stir, and his sleep sounded troubled. Jo wrapped her hands around one of his. Meanwhile, Ajai was wringing out a sponge that had been sitting next to the bed. "Here," Jo took it from her, and Ajai pulled back the blanket. Jo couldn't help but notice how much weight Jimmy seemed to have lost since she'd met him. She pressed the sponge softly down on his bare back. When she was done, Jimmy finally called her name out again, but it seemed he was just dreaming.


	17. Making Peace

**I know I know I know! It has literally been forever, and I don't deserve to have any of my old readers read this let alone review, but I hope you all just enjoy where this is going. More soon, promise!**

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When Ajai still could not tell her where Thomas had gone off to, Jo became frustrated and headed off through the trees. It was as she was walking and absently playing with the corners of her sari that Jo first saw the little monkey. It hopped quickly from one branch to another before disappearing within a clump of leaves, leaving Jo startled. She saw short glimpses of it afterwards, but it soon left her memory when she smelled the cigarette smoke. There he was…up ahead in the clearing. She spotted an easy to climb tree that's branches extended over him and clambered up it as quietly as she could. The jungle, however, made enough of its own noises that she barely had to silence hers. Once she'd crawled over where he stood, she finally wondered what to do next. A whack resounded throughout the clearing, and the next thing Jo knew, she was falling down towards Thomas and the ground. He cursed loudly as ever, and she soon found herself in what she now considered to be a most favorable place: Thomas' arms. His now broken cigarette dangled in half from his lips, as he looked at her in an unsurprised, wary way. She smiled abashedly, removed the cigarette from his lips, dropped it to the ground and pressed her lips to his hard. He added no pressure to the kiss but pulled his head from hers shortly before attempting to gently set her down. She wouldn't let him, instead tightening her arms around his neck.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," she said.

"Why would anything be wrong?" He asked in a tone that clearly belied the meaning of his words.

"You tell me," she finally muttered in frustration.

He let out a heavy high filled with worry upon worry and doubt upon doubt. "Nothing." And he tried to look away from her, but she grasped his chin and captured his eyes with hers.

"You've been making mistakes, Thomas. Lately, you've been letting me get my way. I won't have it any other way now. You will tell me what's bothering you."

He grimaced at her and set his lips shut stubbornly. After a few moments, he said, "If I didn't have sewn into every fiber of my being the wish to keep you from every and any harm in the world, I would drop you right now."

Though the frustration didn't leave her face, her eyes jumped in playfulness. "Empty threats."

"More like empty promises,' he muttered.

"You would never," and she was so sure of herself that he was almost tempted, though every cell in his body was against it. "Fine," she gave in. "Don't tell me, but do kiss me." This was an even harder temptation to resist, but his aching heart had made him promise. He turned his head from hers and tried to ignore that he had so clearly hurt her. Still, he could tell anyone that ever asked, it wasn't easy to ignore the pain in your heart when you've caused pain for the only reason it still beats.

A moment later, he was surprised to feel her grip on him loosen. She slid down his body and slipped away through the trees, leaving him cold and lonely. He didn't even try to stop her but kicked a stone away from his feet instead in frustration.

LATER

Jo had not returned when Thomas finally found his way home from the village bar and restaurant. His breath vaguely smelled of whiskey, but he wasn't drunk. Far from it. He felt clearer headed than he had in months. He needed to talk to Jo, to let her know what was bothering him. She then had the duty of confirming his suspicions and, in the process, of spreading the cyanide of her words through his blood stream. Or she could refute them and, in doing so, save him some very painful pain. It was a rare occasion when Thomas Englehorn wished to be wrong, but there it was. The only catch at the moment was that in order to tell her, he must find her.

When Ajai informed him that the girl had not reappeared after her original departure, Thomas became worried. After looking through the huts, starting with Jimmy's and ending with his, he became alarmed and took a torch from the surrounding where Ajai's family from the village was gathered. Upon ascertaining what Englehorn was doing, the rest of the men and Ajai followed suit and picked up torches. Soon, the surrounding woods were filled with the sound of Jo's name being called. Thomas followed the same trail he'd taken earlier, holding the torch before him and swinging it from side to side. Besides the crunching of leave beneath his boots, he was silent. She would not come to _him_ if he simply called her name. She might respond to the others, unfamiliar, but him…he must hunt for her. He eventually reached the clearing in the woods where last her face had pressed against his. He pursued the trail that she, hurt and disappointed, had taken..

It wasn't long before he saw her crumpled form on the ground ahead of him in the area lit by his torch. He would have worried had he not heard her soft, familiar snoring that meant she was asleep. Almost being the operative word, it _almost_ did not surprise him to see the monkey in her arms, clutched to her chest. It was curled into and resting against her. He felt a sudden desire to lie beside her and fall asleep as naturally as she must have. Somehow, he simply knew that he belonged next to her always, the only place he would ever fell natural. Still, he felt as if there was something blocking him from an eternity of being where he belonged. It was something immovable and invisible, and it frustrated him to no end that he didn't know what this obstruction was or how to get rid of it. He resisted his urge upon hearing the approach of another searcher.

It was Ajai's brother, Hareem. "I found her," Thomas said with a slight smile in that beautiful language that Jo could not even being to comprehend the meaning of.

Hareem gave him a toothy smile. "She found monkey."

"Yes," Thomas grinned back and held out the torch for Hareem to take. Without effort and for at the least the tenth time, Thomas picked the girl up in his arms. The monkey stirred in hers but remained firmly in place with a faint chirrup. He held her against his chest and let the warmth of her body and presence flood him with a rush of contentedness. With one hand he brushed her hair away from her face and then kissed her forehead.

Ajai's other brother, Harai, joined Hareem, and they watched as Thomas walked away slowly, clutching the girl in his arms as if she were the most precious jewel in existence. "True love," Hareem's brother laughed to him.

"Truly," Hareem replied.

Back at the huts, Ajai slipped the baby monkey easily out of Jo's arms, and Thomas proceeded to her hut and put her in bed. He started awake hours later at a creak from his door. Jo stood in the dim light of the doorway. "What is it?" He asked, beginning to rise.

She smiled tiredly and shook her head. She let the door shut and walked slowly towards the bed, wary of tripping. He was entranced by the sight of her as she approached. Her tangled hair, riddled with stray leaves, surrounded her shining face. She wore the night dress from before and the pale gleam of her legs drew his eyes. Without another word, he pulled the blanket back and she slid under the covers next to him. She curled into him, burying her face into his bare, warm chest. He felt her inhale deeply. "I missed you," she whispered against him. "I don't care about…anything. I won't go another night without you."

His body floated in some distant region of space and ecstasy as she finished speaking. He gave in and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She groaned in pleasure, but it was his turn to do so when she draped one of her warm, bare legs lazily over his. They turned their faces towards each other at the exact same time, making Jo giggle. She rested her forehead lovingly against his cheek and he turned his head to graze her skin gently with his lips. When they finally relaxed against the pillows, Jo kissed his cheek. She trailed her lips softly across his skin, leaving soft kisses upon his ear and finally his neck. Her kisses at his neck deepened until every part of his skin that touched hers burned with an unquenchable fire. He pulled her up almost violently, so they were once again face to face.

Their breaths mingled as he said with shallow breath, "You are testing my self control to the breaking point."

Her lips now touching his, he felt her smile, then huskily whisper, "Good."

He pressed his lips softly against hers, then readjusted her head, so it rested in the crook between his neck and chest. "Sleep now."

"As long as it's with you, I don't care what I do." She murmured. Within minutes, she was asleep. Long after she began softly snoring, he traced his finger over her bared arm where it was flung around his waist. He watched her face as she slept soundly. Her lips curved at the edges, the beginnings of a smile. He let his finger trace the pale, thin scar on her face where she'd been cut with a rock thrown by a native back on the island. The bruises were only just beginning to fade. He lightly traced a splotchy brown bruise at her hairline. Then around her lips where she had tiny healing cuts. His finger continued down to her exposed shoulder where the bruises were the worst. They were still purple and blue. He leaned down gently and kissed her shoulder. He sighed deeply. If there were any way to take away the memories of what she had gone through, he wouldn't hesitate.


End file.
